May weekends: FESTIVALS & NEWS, May 17 & 18 in Southern Cal, 2014

A FULL UPDATE is in the works, but no need to wait. MEMORIAL DAY MUSIC FESTIVALS are in this edition -- just scroll-down to get to them!

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This edition is dated May 17 & 18...
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With cooler temperatures this weekend, get out there and enjoy a roots music festival! This edition brings you a NEWS FEATURE on a band headlining one of this weekend’s festivals, and abundant DETAILS of the festivals.

First, THANK YOU, our readers, for your quarter-million page views per year. The editor hopes to thank each of you in person when he repeats his long-running gig as an emcee for the “Railroad Stage” at the Annual TOPANGA BANJO FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL, at Paramount Ranch in the Santa Monica Mtns. Nat’l Recreation Area, in Agoura Hills, on Sunday, May 18. That’ll be a good time for goodbyes before he moves to the other side of the country, and he hopes to see you there. The reins of the Guide will soon be passed along to a new editor who will continue to bring you news of concerts, club gigs, CD releases and reviews, exciting new acoustic acts, and of course, festivals. That will mark the end of the brief hiatus from all our regular coverage.

Now, on to the NEWS and FESTIVALS that await you this weekend and later in May.


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In this edition…


♪ NEWS FEATURES:
. √ SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND are headliners at Sunday’s Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival.
. √ Note about News Features A-PLENTY in recent editions to click-open and see what you’ve been missing.

♪ FESTIVALS! THIS WEEKEND IN SOUTHERN CAL
. √ Quick List
. √ All the Details

♪ FESTIVALS! LATER THIS MONTH IN SOUTHERN CAL
. √ Quick List
. √ All the Details

♪ ONGOING MUSIC & ART EVENTS
. √ Recently updated. Scroll down to check it out. Some current shows are running all the way into June or beyond. Plenty are described within, ready to enjoy.

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♪ QUICKIE NOTE…

Don’t let our recent temporary downsizing fool you. Some regular features had to go on hiatus, but are returning soon. Meanwhile, available on the site in recent editions, but NOT in this edition, are…

♪ NEWS FEATURES a-plenty.

♪ NEW MUSIC RELEASES:
. √ …plenty of ’em in recent editions, so use the sidebar at left, and explore CD release and review features.

♪ THIS DAY IN HISTORY:
. √ Alas, the Guide’s break from daily editions means that’ll be gone for a while, along with wishing our musician friends happy birthdays.

♪ TICKET ALERTS:
. √ …PLENTY of ’em in the April 29 edition, and in other recent editions, alert you to events that have yet to happen and will likely sell-out.



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♪ NEWS FEATURES:
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Number 1 News Feature:

√ SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND are headliners at Sunday’s Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival

by Larry Wines

When’s the last time you heard “international award-winning Folk-Americana music” and “Broadway star” in the same sentence? Susie Glaze brings that. Most recently, her band’s latest album, “White Swan,” was Number One for three months on Roots Music Report and is still charting in the Folk Category’s Top 50 more than a year later.

Her Hilonesome Band has enjoyed steady bookings since her debut CD, “Blue Eyed Darlin’,” won the Just Plain Folks award (with 40,000+ people voting, worldwide) for Best Roots Album in 2006. Early on, Entertainment Weekly declared, “She can blow the roof off any joint lucky enough to book her.” And yes, her music career began on Broadway, in “Big River.”

After building a strong reputation in bluegrass, Susie and company have blazed their own path in contemporary and traditional folk-americana, including pre-bluegrass Appalachian string-based and a cappella songs and plenty of fine originals with contemporary sensibilities. There is no longer a banjo player, and that’s ’purt near unheard of in bluegrass land. Along the way, there have been several changes. Mark Indictor, literally a rocket scientist with many TV music credits, was added as fiddle maestro after he and Susie met playing the Concert for Haiti benefit in 2010.

Fortunately, roots-based musical innovation is welcome at the annual Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival, where contestants vie for honors while professionals, like Susie and her band, entertain and dazzle the crowds. In addition to some deep roots music, this band serves-up Americana with Susie’s soaring, crystal-clear voice leading a fine five-piece, and some down-in-the-hollar nimble-fingered picking and a contemporary feel.

Susie Glaze & The Hilonesome Band have cultivated comparisons to classic British bands Pentangle and Fairport Convention, and that’s valid. They blend classic folk music with rough-edged stories of tragedy and fate, and they craft it with orchestral arrangements akin to string-band-folky chamber music. Sometimes you hear lush newgrass Americana. In other songs, they’re a folk-fusion quintet presenting eclectic blends, perhaps mountain folk, perhaps new grassy, perhaps from Celtic-inspired originals.

The band spent the past year touring “White Swan” and adding songs from their upcoming album, due out this summer. Roz Larman, host of “FolkScene,” radio’s longest-running weekly folk music show, helped submit the last album for a GRAMMY nomination. It received shining reviews in the “Acoustic Americana Music Guide,” “FolkWorks,” “No Depression,” “Pop Matters,” “M Magazine for Musicians,” “Music News Nashville” and “FolkWords UK.”

Susie hasn’t rested on the band’s laurels. From January through April, they anchored a monthly series hosting prominent and award-winning guest artists and introducing their own new songs. Surprisingly, Susie Glaze the Broadway veteran speaks of “Some terrifying moments with song debuts” each month at those “woodshed sessions,” then beams as she realizes “they were all well received” by the paying audience.

That anxiety comes with changing directions. Susie talked about “Why we got out of bluegrass,” a genre with rigid conventions that bring the same round of solo instrumentals in the same sequence, song after song. Clearly, she feels more liberated in recent years, working on originals with band member and master songwriter Rob Carlson.

Some old roads will never be abandoned. Appalachian music legend Jean Ritchie endorsed Susie as her heir apparent a few years back, and the Hilonesome Band keeps the mountain folk icon’s music in today’s ears. The band adds musical members of the Ritchie family when they play back east. With a role in perpetuating that music, Susie shows humility when she speaks of her friendship with Ritchie, who is now 91. It was Jean Ritchie who collected hundred-and-fifty-year-old songs, wrote more of her own, and brought the music of the barely accessible valleys of her coal dusty region to Greenwich Village during the late ’50s Folk Revival. There, Ritchie played them alongside the new songs of a neophyte who had just changed his name to Bob Dylan, and shared stage time with other then-unknowns, like Barry McGuire, who would have a hit with “Eve of Destruction” and star in Broadway’s “Hair.”

Though far too young to have been a part of that scene, Susie has a feel for the importance of a show rich in a variety of good acoustic music. Albums past and future contain covers first performed by others, and the band’s live sets feature these songs. They often perform J.D. Souther and Steve Earle songs, along with several Jean Ritchie songs and tunes, and sometimes some of Ritchie’s stories.

Classics or originals, Susie has always known how to get everything she can from her talented band, doing what musicians call “being generous” on stage. That takes the form of giving each player their own credited lead roles on “their” songs, while everyone else, including Susie on guitar, becomes that member’s back-up ensemble. Few band leaders do it so well, and keep everyone happy so easily. On their latest, and as Susie says, “most truly collaborative” CD, audiences enjoy the variety as the spotlight moves from player to player, song by song. And that way of doing business perfectly translates to the stage, making them festival favorites.

Upright bass player Fred Sanders gets the lead on “his” song, as do fiddler Mark Indictor, guitarist Rob Carlson and mandolin player Steve Rankin.

“It’s a better show when the audience doesn’t keep hearing the same singer, song after song,” says Susie, with no false modesty about her own vocal prowess.

Of course, all that songwriting, woodshedding, and audience testing is rehearsal for the next recording session. Legendary musician and record producer Herb Pedersen is producing the band’s upcoming album, and it’s due for release this summer. Herb was lead guitar on the band’s 2008 CD, “Green Kentucky Blues,” an album produced by GRAMMY winner Laurie Lewis.

Pedersen’s involvement always creates that “buzz factor” that entertainers chase. He has done recording sessions, toured or otherwise worked with everyone from Emmylou Harris to Linda Ronstadt to the Dillards, John Denver, Kris Kristofferson, Chris Hillman of the Byrds, and many others. Susie told us, “He’ll regale you with stories of everybody from Doc Watson to Sergio Mendes!”

And that makes Pedersen the perfect choice for the direction Susie and her band are taking, as they continue to move farther away from bluegrass.

The summer’s new album with her Hilonesome Band will have company. Susie and band member / husband Steve Rankin played on “Dear Jean,” a much-anticipated two-disc Jean Ritchie tribute album due in August on Compass Records, produced by Joan Baez and Dolly Parton. Susie’s track joins others by Judy Collins, Janis Ian, Kathy Mattea, Pete Seeger (one of his last recordings).

Susie looks forward to their trip to Berea, Kentucky, Jean’s home, for the gala CD release concert. That’s icing on the cake for Susie.

Those attending her band’s local concert at Alvas Showroom in San Pedro won’t have to wait. Susie will have a limited number of pre-release copies of the Ritchie tribute album, three months early. That one is a 4 pm matinee on May 25; Alva’s is located at 1417 W 8th St, Weymouth Corners, San Pedro 90732; alvasshowroom.com. Advance tickets, $20, are a must, at 800-403-3447 or 310-519-1314. You can bring your own food and drinks into the venue, and there are several good take-out restaurants in the neighborhood.

With Americana music a hot commodity in venues nationwide, The Topanga Banjo Fiddle ontest & Folk Fest main-stage set by Susie Glaze & the Hilonesome Band kicks-off a busy summer for five veterans always reaching for more. Susie and her band are eyeing the circuit being played by comic-turned-banjo-master Steve Martin and Edie Brickell, and the success of Bonnie Raitt and her three-year tour with her five-piece band. Clearly, the resurgence of string band music is not a phenomenon limited to Old Crow Medicine Show and Mumford & Sons.


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√ More News Features:

√ There are News Features, reviews, CD releases, and all kinds o’ things A-PLENTY in recent editions of the Guide! Use the sidebar at left (on mobile devices, scroll-down and click “View Web Edition”) to open recent editions of the Guide and catch-up with anything you might have missed.



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♪ FESTIVALS!
THIS WEEKEND
IN SOUTHERN CAL
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Quickie list here. Details follow.

1) “9th Ever LOS ANGELES OLD TIME SOCIAL” brings three days of pure old time fun, with musicians and dance callers from Colorado, Kansas, New York, Santa Cruz, Texas, West Virginia, and the City of Angels, at various venues in L.A., and culminating with “The Best of the Old Time Social” on the Pavillion Stage at the Topanga Banjo Fiddler Contest & Folk Festival on Sun, May 18 (see separate listing). The Old Time Social runs Thu-Sat, May 15-17, in L.A.

2) Annual “DOHENY BLUES FESTIVAL” brings 24 top blues acts on three stages at Doheny State Beach, 25300 Dana Point Harbor Dr (at of Pacific Coast Hwy), Dana Point 92629. Runs Sat & Sun, May 17 & 18, in Dana Point.

3) 52nd Annual “TOPANGA BANJO FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL” is, for many years running, the best one-day acoustic string-instrument-based festival anywhere. It’s at Paramount Ranch, in the Santa Monica Mtns. Nat’l Recreation Area. In addition to giving you a chance to discover dazzling new talents on the contest stages, there are professional musicians playing on four stages throughout the day. It’s Sun, May 18, 9 am-6 pm, in Agoura Hills.



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♪ ALL THE DETAILS:
THIS WEEKEND’s MUSIC FESTIVALS
IN SOUTHERN CAL
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Number 1:

Thu-Sat, May 15-17,
FESTIVAL,
in L.A.:
“9th Ever LOS ANGELES OLD TIME SOCIAL” brings three days of pure old time fun, with musicians and dance callers from Colorado, Kansas, New York, Santa Cruz, Texas, West Virginia, and the City of Angels, at various venues in L.A., and culminating with “The Best of the Old Time Social” on the Pavillion Stage at the Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival on Sun, May 18 (see separate listing).
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Prepare for the OLD TIME SOCIAL by deciding which of the many workshops you want to sign-up for; you can attend a concert, bake a cake, or dust-off those dancing shoes at this unique festival, where “Old Time is a Good Time!”
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Thursday brings the Old Time Social Kick Off Party, at 8 pm, at 1642 Bar, 1642 Temple Av, downtown L.A. 90026; $5 –$10 donation. Performers are the L.A. Bluegrass Hoppers, White Chocolate Drops, and the Smoggy Mountain String Band.
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Friday is the Old Time Social Friday Night Concert at 8pm, at the Velaslavasay Panorama, 1122 W 24th St, near USC, L.A. 90007 Tix, $20. Performers are Triple Chicken Foot, Spencer & Rains, Brian Vollmer & Ben Townsend.
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Saturday is a very day of workshops and events at the American Legion Hall Post 206, 227 N Ave 55, Los Angeles 90042. It’s $20 for the day. Email davidbragger@yahoo.com for registration and questions.
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Full info, schedules, and tix, at:
www.oldtimeisagoodtime.com


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Number 2:

Sat & Sun, May 17 & 18,
FESTIVAL,
in Dana Point:
(Gates at 11 am) Annual “DOHENY BLUES FESTIVAL” brings 24 top blues acts on three stages at Doheny State Beach, 25300 Dana Point Harbor Dr (at of Pacific Coast Hwy), Dana Point 92629.
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Doheny State Beach, a 62-acre state park in scenic Dana Point Harbor, features one mile of whitewashed sandy beach. Two main stages are placed at opposite ends of a large grass field, and both stages are within 100 yards of the Pacific Ocean. An intimate, 3rd stage, known as the Backporch, is a great place to get up-close to your favorite artists. There is also an International Food Court and large Vendor Faire. The landscaped grass field at the north end of the park (where the festival is held) includes 170 picnic tables, volleyball courts and plenty of parking.


Saturday line-up:

♪ GREGG ALLMAN
♪ BUDDY GUY
♪ JOHN NÉMETH & THE BO-KEYS
♪ THE MANNISH BOYS REVUE
♪ DAVID “KID” RAMOS
♪ SUGARAY RAYFORD
♪ SMOKIN’ JOE KUBEK & BNOIS KING
♪ NIKKI HILL
♪ JW-JONES
♪ MATTHEW CURRY
♪ THE FORTY FOURS
♪ EARL THOMAS & THE RHUMBOOGIES
♪ THE AMERICANS
♪ THE SILVER KINGS

Sunday line-up:

♪ THE DOOBIE BROTHERS
♪ GOV’T MULE
♪ VINTAGE TROUBLE
♪ JAMES COTTON BLUES BAND & FRIENDS
♪ KEB’ MO’
♪ CHARLES BRADLEY & THE EXTRAORDINAIRES
♪ RUTHIE FOSTER
♪ JAMES INTVELD & ROSIE FLORES
♪ ROY GAINES
♪ THE CALIFORNIA HONEYDROPS
♪ ERIC SARDINAS
♪ ATOMIC ROAD KINGS
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More at: www.dohenybluesfestival.com
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Tix, $60 one day, $110 both days, available at http://dohenyblues.frontgatetickets.com


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Number 3:

Sun, May 18,
FESTIVAL,
in Agoura Hills:
9 am-6 pm 52nd Annual “TOPANGA BANJO FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL” is, for many years running, the best one-day acoustic string-instrument-based festival anywhere. It’s at Paramount Ranch, in the Santa Monica Mtns. Nat’l Recreation Area, a site operated by the National Park Service, in Agoura Hills, off the 101 Fwy west of Thousand Oaks.
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Presented by the nonprofit Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest organization.
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In addition to giving you a chance to discover dazzling new talents on the contest stages, there are professional musicians playing on four stages throughout the day.
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On the MAIN STAGE:
♪ SUSIE GLAZE & THE HILONESOME BAND (see the News Feature in this edition)
♪ THE AMERICANS
♪ RUN BOY RUN
♪ ROCKY NECK BLUEGRASS
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In the DANCE BARN:
♪ FLATFOOT & CLOGGING WORKSHOP
♪ CONTRADANCE with MODAL TEASE
♪ SQUARE DANCE with BEE’S KNEES
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On the PAVILION STAGE:
♪ MURPHY’S FLAW
♪ BEST OF THE OLD TIME SOCIAL (the L.A. festival just before this one)
♪ MIKE MAHANEY & FRIENDS (western / cowboy music)
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On the RAILROAD STAGE:
♪ BRIAN VOLLMER & BEN TOWNSEND
♪ STEVE WERNER, REBECCA STOUT, & BRANTLEY KEARNS
♪ STU MASON & GARY ARCEMONT
♪ ROSS ALTMAN
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In the EUCALYPTUS GROVE:
♪ CHILDREN’S CLOGGING with REBECCA STOUT
♪ BILL DEMPSEY with maritime music
♪ HOLLOW TREES
♪ SCOTTISH FIDDLERS
♪ CELTIC JAM SESSION
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Tix & info, 818-382-4819.



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♪ LATER THIS MONTH ~ QUICKIE LIST:
FESTIVALS COMING IN SOUTHERN CAL
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Quickie list here. Details follow. Here are the basics, and HOW TO GET TICKETS.

√ Annual “SCOTTISH FEST,” billed as “America's Festival of Celtic Music, Entertainment, Food & Libations,” on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND at the Orange County Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa. Runs Sat & Sun, May 24 & 25.

√ 25th annual “SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES FESTIVAL” brings two full festival stages at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Av, Simi Valley. Headliners include ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND, SWAMP DOGG, JOHN MAYALL, CANNED HEAT, C.J. CHENIER, and GUITAR SHORTY. The Los Angeles area’s largest Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Roots Music festival features a daily Mardi Gras parade, kids’ activities, crafts, and dozens of food booths. Runs Sat & Sun of Memorial Day Weekend, May 24 & 25, in VC (Simi Valley).

√ 41st Annual “TOPANGA DAYS” is the only local festival that runs all three days of Memorial Day weekend. It’s at the Topanga Community House & Fair Grounds, 1440 N Topanga Canyon Bl, Topanga 90290. There are multiple music stages all three days, much of it acoustic. The ambiance here is a bit of hippie heaven, and a lot of fun. Plenty of good food is offered, too. Runs Sat-Mon, May 24-26, in the heart of Topanga Canyon.

√ Annual “CLAREMONT FOLK FESTIVAL” features a wide range of music, art and learning experiences, with a strong music lineup that includes BEN & ELLEN HARPER, DAVE ALVIN & THE GUILTY ONES, THE GONZALO BERGARA QUARTET, THE COALS, THE CHAPIN SISTERS, RICK SHEA, PHOEBE BRIDGERS (star of the new iPhone5 commercial), and many more, plus Storytellers, Workshops, and all-day Kid’s Activities. Happens Sat, May 31, at Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Gardens in Claremont.



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♪ LATER THIS MONTH ~ ALL THE DETAILS:
FESTIVALS COMING IN SOUTHERN CAL
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Sat & Sun, May 24 & 25,
FESTIVAL,
in OC (Costa Mesa):
Annual “SCOTTISH FEST,” billed as “America's Festival of Celtic Music, Entertainment, Food & Libations,” on MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND at the Orange County Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa.
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Celtic Entertainment with Pipe and Drum Bands, and main stage sets by:
♪ ERIC RIGLER & BAD HAGGIS
♪ THE IRISH VOLUNTEERS
♪ SLIGO RAGS
♪ HIGHLAND WAY
♪ THE PLOUGHBOYS
♪ 1916 BAND
♪ NEIL O'NEILL
and more.
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There’s also a Whiskey Pavilion and Whiskey Tastings.
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Tix and more info at:
www.scottishfest.com


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Sat & Sun, May 24 & 25,
FESTIVAL,
in VC (Simi Valley):
Noon-7:30 pm 25th annual “SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES FESTIVAL” brings two full festival stages and runs for two of the three days of Memorial Day weekend, at Rancho Santa Susanna Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Av, Simi Valley.
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Headliners include ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND, SWAMP DOGG, JOHN MAYALL, CANNED HEAT, C.J. CHENIER, and GUITAR SHORTY.
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This first-class event features two full stages, one for each of its musical genres. Both stages proceed non-stop each day from noon until 7:30 pm. The Los Angeles area’s largest Cajun, Zydeco, Blues and Roots Music festival features a daily Mardi Gras parade, kids’ activities, crafts, and dozens of food booths.
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The blues stage brings the festival’s debut of new blues stage booker Martin Fleischmann. The stage presents its strongest bill ever, featuring Robert Randolph & the Family Band, the American Funk and Soul Ensemble led by pedal steel guitarist Robert Randolph; Los Angeles-based Southern soul and blues legend Swamp Dogg; British blues patriarch John Mayall; blues revival pioneers Canned Heat; Texas-born bluesman Guitar Shorty; and Blues Music Award-winning singer and guitarist Tommy Castro. The blues stage will also feature Flattop Tom & His Jump Cats, Nancy & the Nightcrawlers, Dennis Jones and Andy Walo.
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On the Cajun-Zydeco stage, C.J. Cheneir brings the Red Hot Louisiana Band, assembled by his father, Zydeco king and Grammy Lifetime Achievement winner Clifton Chenier. Veteran Zydeco accordionist Nathan Williams Sr. will appear, as will Nathan Williams Jr. & His Zydeco Big Timers. Dwayne Dopsie, hailing from one of the top Zydeco families in the world, will front the Zydeco Hellraisers. Feufollet is a brilliant young band that presents authentic old-style Cajun classics, and their own indie-rock-influenced Cajun music. Southern California’s own Lisa Haley & the Zydecats, Grammy nominees and a popular attraction at the festival for many years, will return, as will Andre Thierry & Zydeco Magic, and the Bayou Brothers.
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The annual Mardi Gras Parade will take place both days at 4 pm.
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Tix, $22 adults, age 13+; $15 for children ages 7-12; tix available online at www.simicajun.org/2014 or at the gate, unless it sells-out. Parking is ample and free, with a free shuttle to/from the remote lot.


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Sat-Mon, May 24-26,
FESTIVAL,
in Topanga:
41st Annual “TOPANGA DAYS” is the only local festival that runs all three days of Memorial Day weekend, including Monday; at the Topanga Community House & Fair Grounds, 1440 N Topanga Canyon Bl, Topanga 90290.
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There are multiple music stages all three days, much of it acoustic, and venues include the picturesque main stage with the on the audience on the ball field and the stage terraced on the hillside above, and the indoor stage in the Community House. The ambiance here is a bit of hippie heaven, and a lot of fun. Plenty of good food is offered, too.
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There’s even a parade through the canyon on Sunday morning. (It closes the road, so plan your trip accordingly.)


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Sat, May 31,
FESTIVAL,
in Claremont:
Annual “CLAREMONT FOLK FESTIVAL” features a wide range of music, art and learning experiences, housed within the natural beauty of Rancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden, at 1500 N College Av, Claremont.
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Performers include:
♪ BEN & ELLEN HARPER
♪ DAVE ALVIN & THE GUILTY ONES
♪ THE GONZALO BERGARA QUARTET
♪ THE COALS
♪ THE CHAPIN SISTERS
♪ RICK SHEA
♪ PHOEBE BRIDGERS
♪ THE OOKS OF HAZZARD
♪ BLUE HIGHWAY
♪ STEVE JAMES
♪ ROSS ALTMAN
♪ PETER HARPER
♪ OLD BROWN SHOE
And more, tba.
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Plus Storytellers, Workshops, and all-day Kid’s Activities. General Admission and VIP Seating tickets are available. Children age 12 and under are admitted free, except in the VIP section, where they require VIP tix.
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Last year sold-out in advance, so get your tix now, at:
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http://m.bpt.me/event/573893



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♪ ONGOING MUSIC & ART EVENTS
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ONGOING, through Jun 1, in downtown L.A:
8 pm “THE GERSHWINS' PORGY AND BESS” is presented by Center Theatre Group at the Ahmanson Theatre at the L.A. Music Center, 135 N Grand Av, Los Angeles 90012; www.musiccenter.org
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Winner of the 2012 Tony Award® for “Best Musical Revival,” The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess arrives at the Ahmanson Theatre with award-winning members of the Broadway cast in this stunning and stirring new staging. This re-envisioned Broadway production includes such legendary songs as “Summertime” and “I Got Plenty of Nothing.”

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ONGOING, through May 25, in L.A.:
“THE TALLEST TREE IN THE FOREST,” presented by Center Theatre Group, runs Apr 12-May 25 at the Mark Taper Forum at the L.A. Music Center, 135 N Grand Av, Los Angeles 90012; www.musiccenter.org
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Obie Award-winner DANIEL BEATY chronicles PAUL ROBESON’s remarkable life in an extraordinary theatrical biography. Beaty fills the theatre with the dreams, words and songs – American classics like “Ol’ Man River” – of a man who sacrificed everything in the name of liberty. This play, with live music, is directed by Moisés Kaufman.

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ONGOING at the Getty Villa, through Aug 25, in Malibu:
“Heaven and Earth: Art of Byzantium from Greek Collections” at the Getty Villa, 17985 Pacific Coast Hwy, Malibu; 310-440-7300; parking, $15.
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Marked by glittering mosaics, luminous icons, and opulent churches, the Byzantine Empire (A.D. 330–1453) flourished for more than one thousand years. Over 170 national treasures from Greece illustrate the development of a mighty empire, from its pagan origins to a deeply spiritual Christian society. This exhibition is presented in conjunction with “Heaven and Earth: Byzantine Illumination at the Cultural Crossroads” at the Getty Center.
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The exhibition was organized by the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, Athens, with the collaboration of the Benaki Museum, Athens, in association with the J. Paul Getty Museum and the National Gallery of Art, Washington. The exhibition is supported by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.

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ONGOING at the Getty, through Jun 1, in L.A.:
“JACKSON POLLOCK’S MURAL,” and “HATCHED! CREATING FORM WITH LINE,” are two concurrent temporary exhibitions at the Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr, L.A. 90049; 310-440-7300; parking is $15.

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ONGOING at the Getty, through Jun 8, in L.A.:
“A ROYAL PASSION: QUEEN VICTORIA & PHOTOGRAPHY” and “HIROSHI SUGIMOTO: PAST TENSE” are two concurrent temporary exhibitions at the Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr, L.A. 90049; 310-440-7300; parking is $15.

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ONGOING at the Getty, through Jun 22, in L.A.:
“HEAVEN AND EARTH: BYZANTINE ILLUMINATION AT THE CULTURAL CROSSROADS” is a new temporary exhibition at the Getty Center, 1200 Getty Center Dr, L.A. 90049; 310-440-7300; parking is $15.



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Our usual slogan here is
“More, soon, as always.”
More to come? Certainly. Yes.
But these smaller editions for a while, perhaps,
as our Captain Kirk awaits our Captain Picard.
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♪ The Guide has made some CH-CH-CHANGES – turn, embrace the change – with more to come as spring becomes summer of 2014. A new editor will soon take over the reins. There are already, and will be more, points of departure to make room (and time) for the new. As always, the Guide will cover all that we can, because we operate with our founding editor’s motto, “One does what one can.”

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Direct to the current and recent and archived editions /

MOBILE-DEVICE-FRIENDLY editions, and all load quickly at

www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com

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CONTACT US / Questions / Comments / etc., all at

tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com

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Contents copyright © 2014,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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The ACOUSTIC AMERICANA MUSIC GUIDE endeavors to bring you NEWS and views of interest to artists everywhere, more specifically to musicians and the creative community, and music makers and fans of acoustic and Folk-Americana music, both traditional and innovative. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues, and schedules of performances in Southern California venues large and small. We cover workshops and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kids o’ things in the world of acoustic and Americana and accessible classical music. From washtub bass to musical spoons to oboe to viola to banjo to squeezebox, from Djangostyle to new-fangled-old-time string band music, from sweet Cajun fiddle to pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to proto blues.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. We’re on it.
(Well, we WERE “on it” for a long time. And we will be again.)
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