.
.
LOTS of late additions made / many more concerts, shows, and events added since this edition was originally published (and there may be more coming, through Thursday evening)...
NAVIGATION / VENUE TRAFFIC ALERT...
In professional bike racing, the Amgen Tour of California begins Thursday, May 11, and will conclude a week from Saturday, on May 20, with the final stage beginning at Mountain High in the San Gabriel Mountains, and finishing in Pasadena at the Pasadena Convention Center at 300 E Green Street. The home stretch comes down the Angeles Crest Highway, passes through La Canada, runs east on Woodbury Road and turns south on Los Robles Blvd. The riders then turn east on Colorado Boulevard, go one block and turn right on Madison, then right on Green Street to the finish line. The race is expected to end around 1:45 PM. If you like bike racing, it will be an exciting place to be, and if you don't, a good place to avoid. If you want to see the finish, arrive early and allow time to find parking. Thanks to our friends at the Pasadena Folk Music Society for the word.
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While we're not going back into the daily music calendar bid'ness, there is an irresistible bridge of tunefulness between weekends of festivals. Evening performances this week include some wowsa globetrotting out-of-towners who don't get to Southern Cal very often (like maybe once a year if we're lucky). Plus... if you rely on corporate mainstream media for your supposed news, you'd not only miss that, but you wouldn't know about the two bits of history we mix-in.
So there's abundant reason to check out this lil' edition.
The FESTIVALS listed herein are some of those happening in the next few weeks -- and they are ONLY the ones happening in California. Complete info on them, PLUS dozens more festivals throughout North America, are all presented in detail in the Guide's yuge "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Here ya go, betwixt now and soon, day-by-day...
Through May 21, FESTIVAL: (began Apr 8)
"THE ORIGINAL RENAISSANCE PLEASURE FAIRE" at Santa Fe Dam Recreation Area, 15501 E Arrow Hwy, Irwindale, CA 91706.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Through May 19, FESTIVAL: (started Apr 22)
"WILD FOR THE PLANET" runs Earth Day through Endangered Species Day at the Los Angeles Zoo, 5333 Zoo Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90027.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
====================
TUESDAY, MAY 9, 2017
====================
Musically, it's already passed. but we wanted you know about something special...
May 9th was "Victory Day" with its marches in 50 nations. It seems that US corporate mainstream media only reports on protest marches, so you prob'ly missed this global celebration. It began as a local observation to honor the dead and the veterans who freed the world from fascism in World War II. Now, in each of those many nations where it's observed, people march while holding a photo of an ancestor or other WW II veteran who may be living or dead. They are all considered to be part of "The Immortal Batallion," and that includes all the Rosie-the-Riviters, civilian populations in besieged and relentlessly bombed cities that refused to surrender, and members of guerilla resistance fighters, as well as the uniformed troops of the liberating forces. It's about three things: (1) awareness that we have a world where we are free to complain and live our lives, thanks to the sacrifices of the Greatest Generation (2) being aware of the millions of civilians, including innocent children, whose lives ended because ego-driven conquerors tried to take over the world; and (3) a resolve to never again allow ourselves to be subjugated by oppressors or tyranny, whether militaristic, political, or economic.
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 10, 2017
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Happy "GOLDEN SPIKE DAY"-! Few events in 19th century America were as formative, or came close to having such a big role in defining the nation we would become, as the completion of the first transcontinental railroad. On May 10th, 1869, the "Wedding of the rails and uniting of the two great oceans" happened in the middle of nowhere, at a place that was immediately named Promontory Summit, in Utah Territory, north of the Great Salt Lake.
The "overland journey" of wagon trains from riverboat landings on the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, around the Rockies, across the deserts and over the High Sierra to reach California had taken months for all the pioneers who walked alongside their wagons (nobody rode in a wagon train 'cause your wagon was chockful of all your stuff). Or, it took months aboard a ship, beneath sails, around Cape Horn at the bottom tip of South America, where stormy Antarctica waters made the passage terrifying.
There is even a photograph of the very last Overland Trail wagon train being passed on May 8th by the steam train on its way to the ceremony at Promontory that completed the railroad on May 10th.
After May 10th, 1869, everything changed. Suddenly, you could board an enclosed wooden passenger car entrained behind a steam locomotive, and the great journey took four days.
The driving of the Golden Spike -- which really is made of gold -- was the moonshot of the 19th century. And like President Kennedy challenging us to go to the Moon and being assassinated before he saw it happen, it was President Lincoln who signed the Pacific Railroad Act to connect California to the East. Lincoln did not live to see the trains meet or what else the Great Feat of The Age brought -- the birth of the Robber Barons in fraudulent schemes to collect money for themselves under the auspices of building the railroad. But the Wall Street banksters of today have their origins in the Credit Mobilier of the late 1860s.
Still, there was much that was beneficial. The unemployed veterans of the Union Army after the Civil War, along with Irish Potato Famine refugees who were reviled by everyone, found work building the Union Pacific from the East. At least they could go somewhere, when their bravery in war hadn't been enough to earn them a place in mainstream society. And the previously reviled Chinese immigrants who were persecuted and sometimes lynched in the California gold fields found good employment and gained respect building the Central Pacific from the West, over the "impossible" barrier of the Sierra.
It was the railroad that enabled the great cattle drives from Texas to deliver beef to the hungry, overcrowded cities of the East. And in so doing, it provided work for cowboys who, as often as they were white ex-Confederate veterans, were also dispossessed Mexican vaqueros and just-freed black slaves. And it was there that discrimination against persons of color first came into question, because a working cowboy -- like a railroad construction foreman -- only cares about what you can do, not what you look like.
It was the railroads that enabled development of underground mining in the Rocky Mountains by bringing the essential heavy machinery for the mines and rock crushers and smelters and the trappings needed for towns that could accommodate women and families and trappings of culture.
It was the railroad that brought immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe to new lives as farmers on the plains.
It was, in short, because of the transcontinental railroad that America first attained cultural and ethnic diversity, with a sense of place for all-comers.
That is, as long as we don't look at the devastation of the Native American cultures whose buffalo herds, in their millions, were erased, while access to waterways and nomadic subsistence lifeways were eliminated by farms and ranches and settlements and jealously-guarded ownership and exclusivity and the proclamations of "that's mine, keep out!"
Woody Guthrie's verse in "This Land Is Your Land," about the no trespassing sign that, "on the other side, didn't say nuthin', and THAT side was made for you and me," was too long in coming to help the Indian.
Native American tribes, often fragmented into bands that facilitated hunting but that comprised entire "First Nations" of culture and language over vast regions, were exterminated by broken treaties. It was inevitably for one reason -- evermore money could be made by running the Indian off "guaranteed" tribal lands because those lands could be sold to white immigrant farmers or to some interest that was inevitably exploitive or extractionist.
Is the transcontinental railroad, and the network of rails it enabled, responsible for dispossession and extermination of the Indian? As an actual mechanism, the rails accelerated it. But to paraphrase Shakespeare, the fault lay not in our rails, but in ourselves. The government-subsidized, privately-owned line of twin steel rails across the prairies need not have ended the Indians' way of life. But it was inevitable that something would. White ethnocentrism pushed for and believed in "Manifest Destiny," a God-given right to dominate everything -- to exploit anything from which a buck could be rendered, and to exterminate anyone standing in the way of the "brave pioneer" and his quest for riches. Thus, it is the white settler wearing the mantle of hard work that is, according to every Horatio Alger myth, always a guarantee of reward.
Not exactly the same as the "brave engineer" whose early steam locomotive might run as fast as his courage would take it, and who could be scalded to death by the steam when something went wrong. But certainly the bringing of the industrial age to the wild expanses of remote landscapes. And, continuing into our time, the thing that produced the mindset that technology will always provide an innovation, an invention, a machine, an app, or some solution to let somebody profit from every challenge.
It's an idea as fraught now, as it was then, with unintended consequences. While some people might seize the chance to break out of the box, others are stuck with consequences that bring ruination. In the most recurrent theme of American Exceptionalism, it's likewise engendered with opportunities for the correctly positioned few to exploit and suppress the aspirations of the many.
We are always passing that wagon train on our way to Promontory. And no one ever asks who those people are, walking alongside their wagons, on their way to confronting the dream -- or escaping the nightmare -- that sent them forth to seek a better life.
Recently, A&E produced a cable series called "Hell on Wheels" that was an utter bastardization of transcontinental railroad building history. it was simply in the vein of so much of television's pathetic parade of history porn populated by comic book villains.
We're recommending something else that has the right feel. Though it's about the far shorter building of the first major railway in England, if you didn't know that, you'd accept it as the saga of the Golden Spike. So pause and partake of the Genesis song, "Driving the Last Spike."
It's at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHGqGmzzQaY
In it, Phil Collins and his fellow songwriters reveal the essence of things far better in eleven minutes than TV did in four seasons. One comment on YouTube expresses the continuing relevancy: "This song should be considered an anthem for all blue collar workers -- people who are the backbone of our economy, but who seldom get credit for the central role they play in maintaining our quality of life."
For a song written and performed during the 19th century's age of railroad construction, we choose this one for its accompanying slide show, with wonderful imagery of 150 years of American railroading. The vintage photos let you look into the eyes of the people of the time, and it reaches to some of today's "rails to trails" repurposing of abandoned tracks. It includes still-used tunnels originally blasted-out by charges of black powder placed in holes drilled in the rock. The holes were banged-in by hand using nothing but iron rods with star-shaped cutting ends, struck repeatedly with a hammer by "tarriers." It's the classic American railroad song "Drill Ye Tarriers Drill" performed by Trip McCool.
It's at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9dOrghwDE0
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Here are the music events of May 10 and beyond.
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Wed, May 10:
1 pm & 7 pm "MASTER CLASS & SHOWCASE" presented by "prominent composers and lyricists with deep roots in songwriting and social change music," who "offer a live coaching session to emerging artists" at the Rubicon Theater, 1006 E Main St, Ventura, CA 93001; 805-667-2900.
___
Wed, May 10:
8 pm TISH HINOJOSA, belle of the Austin folk scene and festival headliner worldwide, plays ONE local show at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations are an absolute necessity because this will sell-out (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
* If you read this at the last minute, go anyway, because Bob stane does well with getting his waiting list peeps in the door.
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THURSDAY, MAY 11, 2017
======================
May 11-14, FESTIVAL:
16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA. It's obviously LOADED with Cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 11-14, FESTIVAL:
5th annual "L.A. DANCE FESTIVAL" at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Bl, Los Angeles CA 90064; www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com/2016/02/28/la-dance-festival-2017 ; class schedule and LADF Fringe performances at: www.ladancefest.org
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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May 11-14, FESTIVAL:
"PARKFIELD BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" at 1st St & Oak St, Parkfield, CA 93451.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Thu, May 11:
6:30-8:30 pm ANDY & RENEE, fresh from hosting/producing the 27th annual "Dylanfest," play the Bottle Inn Riviera, 1700 S Catalina Av (entrance on Avenue I), Redondo Beach, CA 90277; 310-543-6800
* Catch 'em now before they go, next week, to Italy to perform.
* They have a new weekly podcast, "TALKIN' BOB DYLAN." Subscribe, download, listen and share all the "Talkin' Bob Dylan" podcasts at http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDylanPodcast
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Thu, May 11:
7 pm FREEBO & His FABULOUS FRIENDS play Bogie's, 32001 Agoura Rd, Westlake, CA 91361; 818-889-2394; bogies@wvinn.com
* Tix $18 by phone or email.
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Thu, May 11:
7 pm BROOKLYN RIDER with KAYHAN KALHOR play UC Santa Barbara's Campbell Hall, 574 Mesa Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93106; 805-893-3535.
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Thu, May 11:
7 pm "SONGWRITING FINALIST CONCERT" completes the Monday-through-Wednesday series at the Rubicon Theater, 1006 E Main St, Ventura, CA 93001; 805-667-2900.
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Thu, May 11: Not music, but cool...
7 pm "THE CONSCIENTIOUS PROJECTOR" is a FREE series, and this month's screening is the film "A SIMPLER WAY: A CRISIS IN OPPORTUNITY," at Armory Center for the Arts, 145 N Raymond Av, Pasadena. (It's across the street from memorial Park, which has a Gold Line light rail station.)
* The film considers simpler living in an era of political upheaval and climate change. As always, the program is free, and a discussion is held after the screening.
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Thu, May 11:
8 pm "FOLK REVIVAL FESTIVAL" monthly show in Long Beach with JERRON "BLIND BOY" PAXTON, RICK SHEA & THE LOSIN' END, DAVE HALL & STEPHEN PATT, and an early 'n late BLUEGRASS JAM, at the Red Leprechaun, 4000 E Anaheim St, Long Beach, CA 90804; 562-343-5560.
* This is a "2nd Thursdays" series presented by the Long Beach Folk Revival Festival; the festival happens Sep 16, 2017. There's a full write-up on it in the Guiode's "Encyclopedia Festivanica," at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html. Regarding this Thursday show, Rick tells us, "I play at 8 pm, Dave Hall and Stephen Patt will be joining me, and there is a Bluegrass jam before and after."
* ADDED LATE to the lineup: JERRON "BLIND BOY" PAXTON -- "Although only in his 20s, Jerron 'Blind Boy' Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920's and making them wish they could stay there for good. Paxton may be one of the greatest multi-instrumentalists that you have not heard of. Yet. And time is getting short, fast." -- Long Beach Folk Revival Festival.
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Thu, May 11:
8 pm GOLD HEART, a five-piece bluegrass band, plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
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Thu, May 11:
9 pm KORBY LENKER & TOM FREUND play the Hotel Café, 1623 1/2 N Cahuenga Bl, Hollywood, CA 90038; 323-461-2040.
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FRIDAY, MAY 12, 2017
===================
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA. It's obviously LOADED with Cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
5th annual "L.A. DANCE FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Bl, Los Angeles CA 90064; www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com/2016/02/28/la-dance-festival-2017 ; class schedule and LADF Fringe performances at: www.ladancefest.org
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
"PARKFIELD BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at 1st St & Oak St, Parkfield, CA 93451.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Fri, May 12:
7-10 pm ANDY & RENEE, fresh from hosting/producing the 27th annual "Dylanfest," play the
Ports O' Call Restaurant, 1200 Nagoya Way, San Pedro, CA 90731; 310-33-3553.
* Catch 'em now before they go, next week, to Italy to perform.
* They have a new weekly podcast, "TALKIN' BOB DYLAN." Subscribe, download, listen and share all the "Talkin' Bob Dylan" podcasts at http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDylanPodcast
___
Fri, May 12:
7-10 pm Free "GALLERY OPENING RECEPTION" with THE BLUE DOLPHINS duo playing "a hot acoustic set," plus the PETE PIDGEON - MARK HART DUO perform, all at the FREE opening reception of the Malibu Guitar Festival Gallery, 23359 Pacific Coast Hwy (next to Wells Fargo in Malibu Village), Malibu, CA; www.malibuguitarfestival.com
* Visual artists whose work is on display and available at the event include Robby Krieger from The Doors and photographer Lisa Johnson of 108 Guitars. The Dolphins tell us, "It's going be a feast for the eyes and ears all night."
* On Sun, May 28, the Blue Dolphins play the Main Stage at "Topanga Days Country Fair" (see the extensive write-up in the Guide's "Encyclopedia Festivanica" at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html). The Dolphins add more (right here) to what we describe in that write-up. They say, "It will be a high energy electric set with our fantastic band, Fran Iturbe on lead electric guitar, Kevin Jarvis on drums and Moshe Pinz on electric bass. The fair is a local favorite here in Los Angeles, and If you like a taste of counter culture, this is your festival! Original arts and crafts for sale, family friendly, two stages."
* To get acquainted with THE BLUE DOLPHINS, the band/duo of Victoria & Alfonso, here are three vids for you:
(1) the Blue Dolphins playing acoustic at the Unurban Coffee House in L.A., Jan 21, 2017, at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmqARmDSR8U&feature=youtu.be&utm_source=The+Blue+Dolphins
(2) the duo sing/play acoustic at Teatro Agustin, Monterrey, Mexico, Nov 11, 2016, at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVMo56uZ7i4
(3) see them up close and with very nice backing instruments and production values, at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5G_Ee3WfA4.
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Fri, May 12:
7:30 pm ELLEN STAPENHORST plays a House Concert in Brentwood. Email her for details: estapenhorst@earthlink.net.
* More on Ellen in news feature # 5 in the May 5th edition, at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/mays-musical-banquet-news-reviews.html
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Fri, May 12:
7:30 pm NATHAN & JESSIE play the San Diego Folk Heritage series at Templars Hall in Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Rd, Poway, CA 92064; 858-566-4040.
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Fri, May 12:
8 pm BEN MILLER & ANITA MacDONALD play the MacLeod Ale Brewing Co., 14741 Calvert St, Van Nuys, CA 91411.
* They also perform a sit-down concert Saturday at Caltech for the Pasadena Folk Music Society concert series, at 8 pm (see listing).
___
Fri, May 12:
8 pm RICK RUSKIN, fingerstyle guitar virtuoso, plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
* Rick Ruskin also does a 4 pm workshop and an 8 pm concert on Saturday in Culver City, and he performs Sunday at 4 pm in San Pedro (see listings).
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Fri, May 12:
8 pm JERRON "BLIND BOY" PAXTON plays McCabe's 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310-828-4497; www.mccabes.com
* "Although only in his 20s, Jerron 'Blind Boy' Paxton has earned a reputation for transporting audiences back to the 1920's and making them wish they could stay there for good. Paxton may be one of the greatest multi-instrumentalists that you have not heard of. Yet. And time is getting short, fast." -- Long Beach Folk Revival Festival.
___
Fri, May 12:
8 pm MOLLY TUTTLE BAND plays Boulevard Music, 4316 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City, CA 90230; 310-398-2583; www.boulevardmusic.com
* Molly was just on the cover of "Acoustic Guitar" magazine (April 2017)
* "American Songwriter" magazine has released the video for her song, "Save This Heart," at: https://americansongwriter.com/2017/04/molly-tuttle-plots-debut-solo-ep-rise/
* "Nashville-based songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Molly Tuttle is already well regarded throughout the roots and bluegrass communities, despite not yet having released a solo collection to her name. That’s all about to change, though, as Tuttle prepares to release Rise, a seven-song EP slated for June 2." -- Brittney McKenna, April 25, 2017, in "American Songwriter."
* Darrell Scott, the Milk Carton Kids, and cellist Nathaniel Smith perform on her upcoming album.
* This show is a fine opportunity to catch a still-rising star.
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Fri, May 12:
8 pm "100th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF LOU HARRISON AND HIS MUSIC" with BILL ALVES & FRIENDS at Boston Court Performing Arts center, 70 N Mentor Av, Pasadena, CA 91106; 626-683-6883; www.bostoncourt.org
* Boston Court's Spring Music Series for 2017 begins with a celebration of the iconic and revolutionary Lou Harrison, whose ambitious and inventive work made him the quintessential Californian composer.
* Bill Alves, the co-author of the upcoming Lou Harrison biography, "Lou Harrison: American Music Maverick," brings his unique Indonesian gamelan instruments to Boston Court to celebrate the centennial of the American master of non-Western music.
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Fri, May 12:
9:30 pm POOR MAN’S WHISKEY plays the SOHo Restaurant & Music Club, 1221 State St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; 805-962 7776.
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SATURDAY, MAY 13, 2017
======================
Sat, May 13, FESTIVAL:
"CHOCOLATE FESTIVAL" at the San Diego Botanical Gardens, 230 Quail Gardens Dr, Encinitas, CA 92024; 760-436-3036.
Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Sat & Sun, May 13 & 14, FESTIVAL:
"BLUEGRASS IN THE SPRING FESTIVAL" at Calico Ghost Town, 36600 Ghost Town Rd, Yermo, CA 92398.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA. It's obviously LOADED with Cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
5th annual "L.A. DANCE FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Bl, Los Angeles CA 90064; www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com/2016/02/28/la-dance-festival-2017 ; class schedule and LADF Fringe performances at: www.ladancefest.org
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
"PARKFIELD BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at 1st St & Oak St, Parkfield, CA 93451.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Sat, May 13:
2 pm STEVE WERNER does a folk song concert, accompanying himself with his amazing Merle Travis-style acoustic guitar playing, at the Platt Library, 23600 Victory Bl, Woodland Hills, CA 91367.
* FREE concert presented by the upcoming "Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival."
* Steve was half of the acclaimed recording duo, FUR & STEVE.
* The 57th annual "Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival" happens May 21, 2017, and is thoroughly coverered in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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WORKSHOP --
Sat, May 13:
4 pm "FINGERSTYLE GUITAR WORKSHOP" with RICK RUSKIN at Boulevard Music, 4316 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City, CA 90230; 310-398-2583; www.boulevardmusic.com
* More on Rick Ruskin at www.liondogmusic.com
* Rick Ruskin plays an 8 pm concert tonight, Saturday, at the same venue, and he performs Friday at 8 pm in Altadena and Sunday at 4 pm in San Pedro (see listings).
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Sat, May 13:
7 pm THE LONELY HEARTSTRING BAND plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
* The also play McCabe's on Sunday at 8 pm (see listing).
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Sat, May 13:
7 pm "MUSIC2LIFE" Benefit with the surviving PETER, PAUL & MARY duo at the Rubicon Theater, 1006 E Main St, Ventura, CA 93001; 805-667-2900.
* See feature story # 4 in the May 5th edition, at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/mays-musical-banquet-news-reviews.html
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Sat, May 13:
7:30-10:30 pm ANDY & RENEE, fresh from hosting/producing the 27th annual "Dylanfest," play the Avenue A Bar & Grill, 800 S Pacific Coast Hwy, Redondo Beach, CA 90277.
* Catch 'em now before they go, next week, to Italy to perform.
* They have a new weekly podcast, "TALKIN' BOB DYLAN." Subscribe, download, listen and share all the "Talkin' Bob Dylan" podcasts at http://feeds.feedburner.com/TheDylanPodcast
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Sat, May 13:
8 pm BEN MILLER & ANITA MacDONALD play the Pasadena Folk Music Society concert series in Beckman Institute Auditorium ("Little Beckman") on the caltech campus; park free and ignore the "reserved for" signs in either lot at the S end of Michigan Av off Del Mar; actual venue address is 400 S Wilson Av, Pasadena, CA 91106. Be aware that other events will make parking competitive, so go as early as you can get there and stroll around the lovely campus.
* FEATURE STORY:
Ben Miller (Scottish border pipes) and Anita MacDonald (Cape Breton fiddle) play this show in Pasadena to wind up their current U.S. tour. Anita is from Little Narrows, Cape Breton, and Ben is American-born, now also living in Cape Breton. They have been performing together for a few years now, and their initial 2015 recording, "A Day at the Lake," shows them to be excellent performers. Zakk Cormier will join them on acoustic guitar for this show. Radio Station 101.5 in Nova Scotia (known as "The Hawk") described them this way: "Ben and Anita have the unique talent of taking well known, traditional tunes and giving them life. They have a great respect and knowledge of how these tunes are to be played, but are able to inject an energy that brings them to life once again. That's the way you keep the music alive for a new generation to discover and enjoy."
* Tix are $20 adults, $5 for Caltech students and children.
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Sat, May 13:
8 pm LISA LOEB plays the Grand Annex, 434 W 6th St, San Pedro, CA 90731; 310-833-6362; www.grandvision.org
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Sat, May 13:
8 pm RICK RUSKIN plays Boulevard Music, 4316 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City, CA 90230; 310-398-2583; www.boulevardmusic.com
* Rick Ruskin also does a 4 pm workshop today, Saturday, at the same venue, and he performs Friday at 8 pm in Altadena and Sunday at 4 pm in San Pedro (see listings).
___
Sat, May 13:
8 pm QUILES & CLOUD plus ALLISON PIERCE play McCabe's 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310-828-4497; www.mccabes.com
___
Sat, May 13:
8 pm "CANCIONES DE BUSCADORES - THE SEEKERS' SONGS" performed by USC GRADUATE STUDENTS IN VOCAL PERFORMANCE at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 N Mentor Av, Pasadena, CA 91106; 626-683-6883; www.bostoncourt.org
* Boston Court's Spring Music Series for 2017 continues its opening weekend. Follow the journey from Old world to New through canciones by Turina, Guastavino, Buchardo and Piazolla. USC Graduate Students in Vocal Arts are under the musical direction of Lisa Sylvester.
* Tix are only $10 online.
====================
SUNDAY, MAY 14, 2017
MOTHER'S DAY
====================
Sun, May 14; Sat & Sun, May 13 & 14, FESTIVAL:
"BLUEGRASS IN THE SPRING FESTIVAL" at Calico Ghost Town, 36600 Ghost Town Rd, Yermo, CA 92398.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA. It's obviously LOADED with Cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
5th annual "L.A. DANCE FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at Theatre Raymond Kabbaz, 10361 W. Pico Bl, Los Angeles CA 90064; www.theatreraymondkabbaz.com/2016/02/28/la-dance-festival-2017 ; class schedule and LADF Fringe performances at: www.ladancefest.org
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Continuing through May14; FESTIVAL:
"PARKFIELD BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" is May 11-14 at 1st St & Oak St, Parkfield, CA 93451.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Sun, May 14:
10 am & 3 pm "MOTHERS DAY SOULFUL SUNDAY BRUNCH" at the Rose, 245 E Green St, Pasadena, CA 91101; 888-645-5006; tix, http://www.ticketmaster.com/search?tm_link=tm_header_search&user_input=Soulful+Sunday+Brunch&q=Soulful+Sunday+Brunch&camefrom=EMCL_1637095_63854496
* There's live Motown-style music "performed by a plethora of seasoned and soulful musicians, plus an inspirational gospel choir," hosted by Miss Sylvia St. James from the long-gone House of Blues "Sunday Gospel Brunch." This one has so much character we need to list it all...
* Menu:
Chicken & Waffles
BBQ Roasted Chicken
Creamy Mac & Cheese
Soulful House Salad
Caesar Salad
Smoked Bacon
Buttermilk Biscuits & Gravy
Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce
and more
* Brunch 1 begins at 10 am.
* Brunch 2 begins at 3 pm.
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Sun, May 14:
2:30 pm JANET KLEIN & HER PARLOR BOYS play a Mothers Day show of their charming music of the nineteen-teens and 1920s, at the Old Town Music Hall, 40 Richmond St, El Segundo, CA 90245; 310-322-2592; www.oldtownmusichall.org
* It's "An afternoon at the legendary home of the Mighty Wurlitzer!"
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Sun, May 14:
3 pm THOMAS CASSELL & ETHAN SHERMAN, "young lions of jazz, American acoustic and musical improvisation, and maybe some bluegrass," play the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
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Sun, May 14:
4 pm RICK RUSKIN, fingerstyle guitar master, plays Alvas Showroom, 1417 W 8th St, San Pedro, CA 90732; 310-833-7538; www.alvasshowroom.com
* Rick Ruskin also does a 4 pm workshop and an 8 pm concert on Saturday in Culver City, and he performs Friday at 8 pm in Altadena (see listings).
* $20 tix here include complimentary hot coffee, tea, cocoa, and a filtered water fountain. You are invited to "Bring your own food & drinks, no alcohol."
* The next fingerstyle guitar concert at the venue is Sat, Jun 10, 8 pm, with CALUM GRAHAM and Special guest DONOVAN RAITT, also a $20 concert. (That's notable, because the venue has become mostly jazz.)
___
Sun, May 13:
5 pm DROPKICK MICKEYS play traditional Irish music, led by fiddler Michael Kelly from Sligo rags with Padraig on acoustic guitar, at the Shamrock Irish Pub & Eatery, 39252 Winchester Rd #145, Murrieta, CA; 951-696-5252; www.theshamrockirishpubandeatery.com
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Sun, May 14:
7 pm BRAZILIAN VIOLIN TRIO plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
___
Sun, May 14:
8 pm LONELY HEARTSTRING BAND play McCabe's 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; 310-828-4497; www.mccabes.com
* They also play the Coffee Gallery Backstage on Saturday (see listing).
___
Sun, May 14:
8:30 pm CILLIAN'S BRIDGE plays a "MOTHER'S DAY SHOW" at the Harp Inn Irish Pub, 130 E 17th St, Costa Mesa, CA; 949-646-8855; www.harpinn.com.
* "Infusing styles and experience that range from classical symphonies to well known Irish classics, they delight their audiences and are guaranteed to have them on their feet and dancing no time!" -- Irish Pub Guide.
_________________________
Looking ahead...
May 16-21, FESTIVAL:
"CALIFORNIA AUTOHARP GATHERING" at St. Nicholas Ranch Conference & Retreat Center, 38526 Dunlap Rd, Dunlap, CA 93621
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Tue, May 16:
6:30-9 pm "SONGWRITERS AT PLAY" series on the Central Coast at Bang the Drum Brewery, 950 Orcutt Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA.
* Ellen Stapenhorst is playing, and she tells us, "I'll be one of several songwriters performing a short set of originals at this weekly event. Always a good evening! No cover."
* Info at: http://songwritersatplay.com/ or for those who have installed Facebook's spyware, there's info at: http://www.facebook.com/songwritersatplay
* There is a feature story on Ellen in the May 5th edition, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/mays-musical-banquet-news-reviews.html
___
Wed, May 17:
8 pm RODRIGUEZ plays the City National Grove Of Anaheim, 2200 E Katella Av, Anaheim, CA 92806; 714-712-2700; www.citynationalgroveofanaheim.com
* He is the real-life archetype for all those myths of a great musician presumed dead who was, all the while, very much alive. Rodriguez is an American musician and biggest-selling artist, ever, in South Africa and his music was a factor in bringing-down the apartheid regime there -- without him ever knowing about any of it until years later. That story is the subject of the award-winning film about him, "Searching for Sugar Man."
* The Guide has done feature stories on the artist and the film:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2016/08/top-award-winning-music-documentary-on.html (Aug 3, 2016)
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2014/05/weekend-festivals-and-fridays-arts.html (May 30, 2014)
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2013/02/late-breaking-extra-news-edition-feb-5.html (Feb 5, 2013)
* More at http://sugarman.org
___
Thu, May 18:
7:30 pm THE ROADHOUSE SERIES--THE BAKERSFIELD SOUND plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations (10 am-10 pm, 7 days) 626-798-6236.
* Quite a lineup for this one: featured artist-in-residence and M.C. Patrick Carrico, with special guests: Roadhouse alumni Kassidy Heal, Chad Watson, Pam Loe, Vern Monnett, Coyote Moon, J.P. McDermott and Alice Wallace, plus "very special guests" Ronnie Mack, Karen Tobin, and "the great pedal steel playing" Dean Parks.
___
Thu-Sat, May 18-20, FESTIVAL:
"12th EVER LOS ANGELES OLD TIME SOCIAL," happens at various L.A. venues.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 18-21, FESTIVAL:
15th Annual "JOSHUA TREE FESTIVAL SPRING" in Joshua Tree, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Fri, May 19:
6-10 pm LITTLE FEAT'S PAUL BARRERE & FRED TACKETT on acoustic guitar & mandolin, plus KENNY GRADNEY, TONY BRAUNAGEL, DAN GRIMM & KIRSTEN COLLINS play a benefit for "Safety Harbor Kids" with a concert and Poker Party at Topa Mountain Winery, 821 W Ojai Av, Ojai CA 93023.
* Silent auction items include personally signed guitars.
* Safety Harbor Kids (SHK), a 501c3 nonprofit, has its roots in music with current Board members including JACKSON BROWNE and FRED TACKETT and supporters including ALBERT LEE, BONNIE RAITT, PAUL BARRERE of LITTLE FEAT, DANNY SERAPHIN of CHICAGO, many other great artists, and studios including East/West and The Village. SHK is celebrating 10 years of serving orphans, foster and homeless children. More at www.safetyharborkids.org.
* The event features a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament and a concert by the world renowned guitar/multi-instrumental duo.
* Held to benefit disadvantaged youth in the area, the festivities include poker, music and dancing, wine tasting and games.
* Prizes include a weekend with a Tesla provided by Tesla Motors of Santa Barbara, rounds of golf at the Ojai Valley Inn, horseback lessons, wine & coffee tasting, dining experiences, massages and much more.
* Tix for the concert are $20. Tix for all aspects of the event are at www.safetyharborkids.org/fundraisingevents/2017concertandpoker.html
* VIP tix available at 800-277-0497.
___
Fri, May 19:
6 pm-late "DARK NIGHTS AT L.A. LIVE" brings live music by the band WEEKEND CELEBRITY and much more, at the L.A. Live complex next to Staples center.
* Tix at the box office in the West Garage lobby are 40% off if you say "Dark Nights for 40% off." That's at L.A. LIVE's Event Deck (Top Level of the West Garage), 1005 Chick Hearn Ct, Los Angeles, CA 90015; https://www.lalive.com/events-calendar/dark-nights#artists
* There are Stilt walkers | Roaming Characters | Hula Hoopers | Street Dancers | Contortionists; plus muralists Evol | James Wilde XO | Phobik | BlackBrain | Armando Rosete | Sand One | Septerhed | The Blacklight King | MDMN | Zoueh; and bunches of vendors.
* WEEKEND CELEBRITY is an in-vogue, media darling band that centers on their fiddle player. It's sorta fiddle-based acoustic pop that can get electrified. To see if this is music you like, go to http://weekendcelebrityla.com/ and click "Bittersweet Royals."
___
May 19-21, FESTIVAL:
2nd annual "BERKELEY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" at the Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA 94704
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 20, FESTIVAL:
"LAS VEGAS FAMILY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" is FREE in Police Memorial Park, 3250 Metro Academy Way, Las Vegas, NV 89129.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 20 & 21, FESTIVAL:
"DOHENY BLUES FESTIVAL" at Doheny State Beach, 25300 Dana Point Harbor Dr (at Pacific Coast Highway), Dana Point, CA 92629
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Sun, May 21, FESTIVAL:
57th annual "TOPANGA BANJO•FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL" at Paramount Ranch, 2903 Cornell Rd, Agoura Hills, CA.
* There is soooo much happening here, at what the Guide proclaims every year as "the best one-day trad music fest anywhere!" There are many featured acts as well as stunningly wonderful contestants and more, plus incredible jamming.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Sun, May 21:
11:30 am-1:30 pm JANET KLEIN & HER PARLOR BOYS play their charming music of the nineteen-teens and 1920s as part of the "Antique Car Show" weekend at the Muckenthaler Cultural Arts Center, 1201 W Malvern Av, Fullerton, CA 92833; www.themuck.org
* Free outdoor concert in the Muckenthaler Amphitheater.
___
May 23-28, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"BISHOP MULE DAYS," at the Tri-County Fairgrounds, 1141 N Main St, Bishop, CA 93514
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 24-29, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"LIGHTNING IN A BOTTLE FESTIVAL" at San Antonio Recreation Area in Bradley, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 25-29, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"SPRING STRAWBERRY MUSIC FESTIVAL" at the Nevada County Fairgrounds, 11228 McCourtney Rd, Grass Valley, CA 95949.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 26:
7:30 pm CELTIC WOMAN plays their " VOICES OF ANGELS" tour at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Dr, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; 714-556-2787.
* "Voices of Angels" showcases the angelic voices of Susan McFadden, Mairéad Carlin, Eabha McMahon and breathtaking new Celtic violinist Tara McNeill performing music from the forthcoming "Voices of Angels" album. This'll sell-out quickly.
* Tix: https://www.scfta.org/events/detail.aspx?id=15455
___
May 26-28, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"BOTTLEROCK NAPA VALLEY" in Napa, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 26-28, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"CALIFORNIA ROOTS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL" in Monterey, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 27 & 28, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
"SCOTTISH FEST" at the OC Fair & Event Center, 88 Fair Dr, Costa Mesa, CA 92626.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 27 & 28, FESTIVAL: (Sat & Sun of Memorial Day Weekend)
"SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES FESTIVAL," at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Av, Simi Valley, CA.
* Yep, it's a reliably first-rate and endlessly tuneful event with major-league headliners.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
May 27-29, FESTIVAL: (Memorial Day Weekend)
44th annual "TOPANGA DAYS COUNTRY FAIRE" at the Topanga Community House & Fairgrounds, 1440 N Topanga Canyon Bl, Topanga, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Sat, Jun 3, FESTIVAL:
"SAM HINTON FESTIVAL" presented by San Diego Folk Heritage is FREE in Old Poway Park, 14134 Midland Rd, Poway, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 3 & 4, FESTIVAL:
12th annual "LUMMIS DAYS FESTIVAL" at several NE Los Angeles venues that include the Southwest Museum's Mt. Washington Campus; Occidental College; Sycamore Grove Park; the historic stone Lummis mansion; and the delightful Heritage Square Museum in Highland Park, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 8-25, FESTIVAL:
"HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL" at 34 theatres, stages, and other venues in Hollywood / L.A., CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 10 & 11, FESTIVAL:
"BIG IRISH FAIR & MUSIC FESTIVAL" at El Dorado Park (off the 605 freeway) 7550 E Spring St, Long Beach, CA
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 10 & 11, FESTIVAL:
30th annual "PALOS VERDES STREET FAIR & MUSIC FESTIVAL," on Norris Center Dr & Crossfield Dr, Rolling Hills Estates, CA 90274
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 10 & 11, FESTIVAL:
"TEQUILA & TACO MUSIC FESTIVAL" in Brookside Park, next to the Rose Bowl, 360 N Arroyo Bl, Pasadena, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 15-18, FESTIVAL:
3rd annual "ROUTE 66 BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" at the San Bernardino County Fairgrounds, 14800 7th St, Victorville, CA 92395.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 15-18, FESTIVAL:
42nd annual "FATHER'S DAY BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" in the Nevada Co. Fairgrounds, Grass Valley, CA
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Fri-Sun, Jun 16-18, FESTIVAL:
"LIVE OAK MUSIC FESTIVAL" at Live Oak Camp, about twenty minutes inland from Santa Barbara, CA
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Fri-Sun, Jun 16-18, FESTIVAL:
"COUNTRY SUMMER" Festival in Santa Rosa, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 16-18, FESTIVAL:
"SIERRA NEVADA WORLD MUSIC FESTIVAL" at the Mendocino County Fairgrounds in Boonville, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 17, FESTIVAL:
1st annual "BOOTS & BREWS COUNTRY MUSIC FESTIVAL" in Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 17-18, FESTIVAL:
31st annual "LONG BEACH BAYOU" Zydeco, Blues, Creole & Cajun Festival at Rainbow Lagoon Events Park, N side of Shoreline Dr, at Shoreline Village Dr. & Linden Av, Long Beach, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 23-25, 2017:
"SUSANVILLE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" in Susanville, east of the Sierra in Northern Cal.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jun 24 & 25, FESTIVAL:
"ARROYO SECO WEEKEND" festival in Pasadena, CA.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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Jun 29-Jul 2, FESTIVAL:
"HIGH SIERRA MUSIC FESTIVAL" at the Plumas County Fairgrounds, 204 Fairground Rd, Quincy, CA 95971.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jul 1, FESTIVAL:
9th annual "ROADSHOW REVIVAL" subtitled "A CELEBRATION OF AMERICAN ROOTS MUSIC," at Discovery Ventura, 1888 E Thompson Bl, Ventura CA 93001.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jul 4, FESTIVAL:
"4TH OF JULY BLOCK PARTY" is a one-day festival at Grand Park and The Music Center, 200 N Grand Av, downtown Los Angeles, CA 90012
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
___
Jul 4, FESTIVAL:
"COLUMBIA’S GLORIOUS 4th OF JULY CELEBRATION" at Columbia State Historic Park, Main St & State St, Columbia, CA 95310.
* Complete info in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
__________
That's a lil' rundown on bunches o' festivals and a few recommended events in California through the 4th of July. There are HUNDREDS more FESTIVALS happening all over North America, and we describe 'em in all the detail you need in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA."
__________
For now, Choi! (That's how the Italians spell it, but they pronounce it like "chow." Get it? the rhyme? Oh, never mind.)
__________
THREE of the MOST RECENT "Music News" editions of the Guide contain things you need to know:
"Remembering BILL BRYSON, bluegrass musician extraordinaire" is the May 3rd special edition, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/remembering-bill-bryson-bluegrass.html
___
We reported the sad news about JIMMY LaFAVE being diagnosed with terminal cancer. Itv was received from Slaid Cleaves and his wife, Karen. It's an up-top feature, added when the news arrived. Plus, that April 21st edition ran with more six music news stories. It's at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-music-news-lotsa-great-stuff.html
___
The latest full edition of music news ran May 5th. It contains the following feature stories:
1) THIS WEEKEND is Festival-Crazy! Here's a Guide to Maximizing Your Fun!
2) BOB DYLAN finally gets his Nobel prize; and DYLANFEST is this Sunday in Torrance
3) LAURIE LEWIS, Bluegrasser and Grammy winner has news, and she plays Saturday night
4) PETER, PAUL & MARY duo play "Music2Life" Benefit in Ventura, May 13
5) Obscure here, famous elsewhere, and wonderful: ELLEN STAPENHORST
6) ERNEST TROOST's latest — an original and ironic "Make America Great Again"
7) For a Cajun landmark, it's ashes to ashes, Hall-Of-Fame to dust
8) Cajun-Zydeco-Creole-Blues FESTIVAL SEASON & concerts in Southern Cal
9) NU-BLU, top bluegrass stars, release brand new album "Vagabonds"
10) New CD by World Music star MEKLIT features ANDREW BIRD on violin and THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
11) New releases of great old material: THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, THE DOORS
12) "WILLIE NELSON’s Luck Reunion" 2017 included Southern Cal's THE WILD REEDS
13) The Broad Stage wins Ovation Award for "1984" as "Best Presented Production of 2016"
14) Maritime Music / Sea Chanteys Festivals & News
It's at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/mays-musical-banquet-news-reviews.html
________________________________
As always, you know that much, much more is coming soon — that includes MUSIC NEWS and even more additions to our massive guide to the Spring-through Fall Music Festivals,
The "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
It's your source for both the LOCAL and NATIONAL Folk-Americana MUSIC FESTIVAL scene !
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What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
________________________________
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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. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds 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 bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
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Tuesday, May 9, 2017
Friday, May 5, 2017
May's Musical Banquet — News, Reviews, Previews, and more - May 5 2017
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Welcome! Here's what's in this very full, very timely, very newsy edition.
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CONTENTS
1) THIS WEEKEND is Festival-Crazy! Here's a Guide to Maximizing Your Fun!
2) BOB DYLAN finally gets his Nobel prize; and DYLANFEST is this Sunday in Torrance
3) LAURIE LEWIS, Bluegrasser and Grammy winner has news, and she plays Saturday night
4) PETER, PAUL & MARY duo play "Music2Life" Benefit in Ventura, May 13
5) Obscure here, famous elsewhere, and wonderful: ELLEN STAPENHORST
6) ERNEST TROOST's latest — an original and ironic "Make America Great Again"
7) For a Cajun landmark, it's ashes to ashes, Hall-Of-Fame to dust
8) Cajun-Zydeco-Creole-Blues FESTIVAL SEASON & concerts in Southern Cal
9) NU-BLU, top bluegrass stars, release brand new album "Vagabonds"
10) New CD by World Music star MEKLIT features ANDREW BIRD on violin and THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
11) New releases of great old material: THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, THE DOORS
12) "WILLIE NELSON’s Luck Reunion" 2017 included Southern Cal's THE WILD REEDS
13) The Broad Stage wins Ovation Award for "1984" as "Best Presented Production of 2016"
14) Maritime Music / Sea Chanteys Festivals & News
Let's get started!
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# 1 news feature...
THIS WEEKEND is Festival-Crazy! Here's a Guide to Maximizing Your Fun!
With the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" available for you — and for us, as a starting point — we reckoned with all it offers, plus we factored-in the concerts, and sorted-out things into a plan of attack.
SO MUCH of what's wonderful is FREE, so there's no excuse for staying home, raiding the refrigerator and cleaning the cat box. Here's how we're gonna play it.
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✔ FRIDAY NIGHT... CONCERT TIME with toooo many tasty options!
Fri, May 5 — JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, Ca; phone For reservations, 626-798-6236. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
*** If it's sold-out or if you're located farther north? They also play SATURDAY, at the 4 pm Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; see "Saturday night" — it's just below.
Friday is an especially rich night for choices...
(Up north) Fri, May 5 — THE SUSIE GLAZE NEW FOLK ENSEMBLE plus banjo maven DONNA LYNN CASKEY play the 7:30 pm "Cambridge Drive Concert Series," 550 Cambridge Dr, Goleta, CA 93117; make a reservation at: cambridge.concerts@gmail.com or by phone, 805-964-0436.
(Down south) Fri, May 5 — CLIVE CARROLL plays the 7:30 pm "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" at the Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan St, Dana Point, CA 92629; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
Or there's this fun one in the SFV:
Fri, May 5 — Kulak’s Woodshed has the monthly show, 8-10 pm, with SEVERIN BROWNE & FRIENDS, at 5230 Laurel Canyon Bl, North Hollywood. In town on her annual musical swing, superb songwriter ELLEN STAPENHORST tells us, "I'll be one of the featured friends for this Friday night concert at the renowned Kulak's Woodshed, with my old pal Severin Browne." Details at www.kulakswoodshed.com
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✔ SATURDAY... MULTIPLE FESTIVAL DAY, and soooo worth the scramble!
9 am, we start with the FREE 18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" festival at the Fullerton Transportation Center (Amtrak's old Santa Fe Ry station), 120 E Santa Fe Av, Fullerton, CA 92832. It's a Saturday & Sunday event, May 6 & 7, and it's FREE. The real star this year is a large, operating steam locomotive, former Santa Fe 4-8-4 "Northern" type, number 3751. Though it's light on music, there's plenty more. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/fullerton-railroad-days-2017-may-6-7.html
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At NOON, we'll get to the FREE 55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" in Memorial Park, 222 W Sierra Madre Bl, Sierra Madre, CA. It happens both Saturday & Sunday, and it's loaded with a lot of activities and two stages of acoustic music that get underway at 12 pm. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/sierra-madre-art-fair-2017-may-6-7-all.html
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By the 3 pm start time, when plenty of acoustic acts take to multiple stages, it's the FREE 9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" — 60 bands across 15 stages — happening into the night, all over downtown South Pasadena, CA. Just a FEW of them are The Ploughboys, Lisa Haley & The Zydecats, Ozomatli, Tony Gilkyson, Calvin Joe & The Orange Grove Rangers, Rick Shea, Liv Kennedy, BrowderSister, Charlie Hickey, and James Hurley. Plus many, many more. Ride the Gold Line light rail and arrive at the center of things at 1121 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/eclectic-music-festival-art-walk-2017.html
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There's also these...
"WILD WEST DAY" Saturday only at the L.A. Co. Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Av, Arcadia, CA 91007. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/wild-west-day-2017-may-6-all-details.html
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34th annual "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" Saturday only at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 Topanga Cyn Bl, Topanga, CA. Details are at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/topanga-blues-festival-2017-may-6-all.html
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5th annual "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" Saturday & Sunday at the Ramona Rodeo Grounds, 421 Aqua Ln, Ramona CA 92065. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/ramona-old-west-days-2017-may-6-7-all.html
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2nd annual "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" Friday-Sunday in Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91350. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/bbq-beer-festival-2017-may-5-7-all.html
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"STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" Saturday evening at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Bl, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/straight-to-heart-music-festival-2017.html
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✔ SATURDAY NIGHT...
Plenty of FREE acts on multiple stages continue after the sun sets at the annual South Pasadena "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL" — see the link above for the deets of that event.
Plus, there are options to tempt you to duck-out early for any of many great concerts!
Sat, May 6 — Grammy winner LAURIE LEWIS & THE RIGHT HANDS bring their bluegrass-Americana to an 8 pm show at Boulevard Music, 4316 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City, CA 90230; tix at 310-398-2583.
Sat, May 6 — Autoharp master BRYAN BOWERS plays an 8 pm concert at the Fret House, 309 N Citrus Av, Covina, CA 91723; tix, 626-339-7020.
Sat, May 6 — DIRK HAMILTON plus WALDO BLISS play at 8 pm in McCabe’s Guitar Shop's concert hall, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; tix, 310-828-4497.
Sat, May 6 — ELLEN STAPENHORST, traveling troubadour, and her local musical brother STEVE STAPENHORST play their annual show, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena $18 at the door, but . reservations are strongly suggested, since al who know them go! Call 626-798-6236. (Fortunately, there are a few options to see Ellen, solo; see the separate news feature on her.)
(Up north) Sat, May 6 — PETER FELDMANN & THE VERY LONESOME BOYS play an 8 pm bluegrass show at their favorite venue, the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall, 2374 Alamo Pintado Av, Los Olivos, CA 93441; tix at 805-688-9894.
(Down south) Sat, May 6 — CLIVE CARROLL plays another "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" show, also at 7:30 pm, but this one is at the Mission Viejo Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Dr, Mission Viejo, CA 92691; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
Or, there's this one:
Sat, May 6: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 4 pm, at a monthly concert series that includes dinner, and this time, dancing, at the Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; reservations necessary at deependsessions@gmail.com. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
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✔ SUNDAY...
Sun, May 7 — There's no place else we can be! It's the 27th annual "DYLANFEST" in the Torino Plaza at the Torrance Cultural Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr, Torrance, CA 90503. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/dylanfest-2017-may-7-all-details.html
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Sun, May 7 — RICK RUSKIN plays the 2 pm "David Naiditch House Concerts" series in Altadena, CA. Reservations get directions at: davidnaiditch@charter.net
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Sun, May 7 — CLIVE CARROLL plays the last of his three gigs for the "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" at 3 pm at the LCA Wine Series at SOCO Center, 3303-3323 Hyland Av, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
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Sun, May 7 — INCENDIO plays a 3 pm concert at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030; 805-385-8147.
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Sun, May 7 — of course, the two-day FESTIVALS that we caught on Saturday are still happening. See Saturday listings for a pair of FREE festivals — the 18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" and the 55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR."
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✔ SUNDAY NIGHT...
Sun, May 7 — Double your dose of Dylan as JOHN YORK SINGS BOB DYLAN at 7 pm at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations strongly recommended, at 626-798-6236. Just leave Dylanfest a lil' early to get there...
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Sun, May 7 — THE RELUCTANT APOSTLES play "Unplugged!" with Davey Faragher, Katey Sagal, John Philip Shenale & Bob Thiele, Jr. at 8 pm in the concert hall behind McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; tix, 310-828-4497.
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(Up north) Sun, May 7 — RODNEY CROWELL does a 7 pm concert at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; tix at 805-963-0761.
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# 2 news feature...
BOB DYLAN finally gets his Nobel prize; and DYLANFEST is this Sunday in Torrance
Nobel literature prize laureate Bob Dylan did finally meet with members of the Swedish Academy during a weekend visit to Stockholm and they bestowed his Nobel diploma and medal on March 25th.
The 75-year-old Dylan, who was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," declined an invitation last year to the traditional Nobel Prize banquet and ceremony on Dec. 10, pleading other commitments.
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Antics and reticence about recognitions aside, you cannot beat the man's amazing catalogue of music.
And that's what's celebrated this Sunday, May 7, at the annual "DYLANFEST."
It's described in detail in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" and you can get just this one, all by itself, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/dylanfest-2017-may-7-all-details.html
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# 3 news feature...
LAURIE LEWIS, Bluegrasser and Grammy winner: news, and they play Saturday night
Saturday, May 6, LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM, with BRANDON GODMAN & MAX SCHWARTZ, play an 8 pm concert at Boulevard Music in Culver City, CA. Tix are available now, at www.boulevardmusic.com.
The night before that, Laurie and Tom are part of a Bay Area bluegrass event that's only possible in California. It's called "Bluegrass Pride" on Fri, May 5, at 7:30 pm at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Av, Berkeley, CA. It's a full-on Bluegrass Festival lineup in an evening, with performances by Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, Kathy Kallick, Suzy and Allegra Thompson, Molly Tuttle, Brandon Godman, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Larry Cohea, Tom Bekeny, Emily Mann, and more. It's a benefit for the bluegrass float in the "San Francisco Pride Parade." (Wonder if they're taking note in North Carolina?)
Anyone in Northern Cal should also note this one:
Tue, Jun 6, 2017:
"RIVER OF SONG" a "Benefit Concert for Northern California Rivers," with LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM, THOMPSONIA!, BARBARA HIGBIE, THE T SISTERS, BLAME SALLY, and JENNER FOX, at the Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA; 510-644-2020; http://thefreight.org
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# 4 news feature...
PETER, PAUL & MARY duo play "Music2Life" Benefit in Ventura, May 13
Liz Sunde of Music2Life, tells us, "We've had another growth spurt, including our 'Embrey Human Rights awards show' and SXSW showcase. And we're heading to the West Coast where I hope you can join us for Music2Life's next (r)evolution! Our work with artists and nonprofits to design uplifting and galvanizing music-based experiences has never been more critical!"
This time around, Music2Life is partnering with their friends at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA, to co-host an inspired music series during the week of May 8th. It's entitled, "Music for Changing Times" and events include a special benefit concert for Music2Life as well as the launch of Music2Life's new "Activist Artist Fund" plus a social justice songwriting master class.
Liz, who is Noel Paul Stookey's daughter, says, "Dad and Peter [the living two-thirds on PETER, PAUL, & MARY] will headline Music2Life's benefit event on May 13 at 7 pm. It's a landmark theatrical concert to raise consciousness and pass the torch of social change music to a new generation."
She adds, "It's a 'tone poem' of Music2Life's mission — a multimedia evening of music, video flashbacks, and stories of equality, peace and the environment. The evening features spoken word artist Decora; Raptivist founder Aisha Fukushima, Eco-hip hop artist Tem Blessed, restorative justice artist Naima Shalhoub and the Rubicon Harmonix youth choir."
You know they're activists, because they don't just tell you about something. They recruit you. Liz says,
"Here are a few ways to get involved:
• If you or others you know in the Los Angeles/Ventura area can be there, WONDERFUL - here's a link for tickets.
• If you can't be there but could help us spread the word - please feel free to share or post this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/289720041478817/
• If you're intrigued by our Activist Artist Fund and would like to get more involved in its development, please contact Liz directly: 802-683-9212.
• Finally, if you or someone you know might consider underwriting part of the show, please see the sponsorship levels here or feel free to call the theatre directly ((805) 667-2912, ext. 224) and speak with Karyl Lynn Burns (Artistic Director); she's a good friend of the family."
Liz concludes with, "Thanks for considering. We appreciate the chance to be in touch and send our best for your good work. Stay strong and be kind."
(Signed)
Peace,
Liz & Noel Paul
Elizabeth Stookey Sunde
Executive Director
Music2Life
POB 409
Wilder, VT 05088
lizs@music2life.org
www.music2life.org
Facebook: music2lifeorg
Twitter: music2lifeorg
Music2Life℠ serves the causes of the world through the power of music.
"Music has this way of reaching across cultural lines, national lines, the lines of religion or language... It can reach into peoples' hearts and create awakening..."
— Michael Franti
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# 5 news feature...
Obscure here, famous elsewhere, and wonderful: Ellen Stapenhorst
Ellen Stapenhorst doesn't get to Southern Cal but once a year from her abode in Snowmass, Colorado, and from the rounds with her tours in the East. Now is the time to catch her locally. Fortunately, there are a few options.
Friday, May 5 — Ellen plays the 8-10 pm show at Kulak’s Woodshed with SEVERIN BROWNE & FRIENDS, at 5230 Laurel Canyon Bl, North Hollywood. She tells us, "I'll be one of the featured friends for this Friday night concert at the renowned Kulak's Woodshed, with my old pal Severin Browne." Deets at: www.kulakswoodshed.com
Saturday, May 6 — ELLEN & STEVE STAPENHORST play their annual brother-sister show at 7 pm at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena. They always performed an annual live show on the old "Tied to the Tracks" radio broadcast. Ellen says, "It’s always a treat to do a show at the Coffee Gallery Backstage with my brother Steve! Join us for an evening of great music, good stories and questionable humor! We'll do some new songs, as well as old favorites. Admission is $18 at the door. Info at www.coffeegallery.com. Reservations strongly suggested, at 626-798-6236 between 10 am and 10 pm."
Friday, May 12 — ELLEN STAPENHORST plays a 7:30 pm House Concert in Brentwood. Email her for details: estapenhorst@earthlink.net
Tuesday, May 16 — "Songwriters at Play" is a wonderful series on the Central Coast. Ellen plays the 6:30-9 pm show at Bang the Drum Brewery, 950 Orcutt Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA. She tells us, "I'll be one of several songwriters performing a short set of originals at this weekly event. Always a good evening! No cover." Info at: http://songwritersatplay.com/ or for those who have installed Facebook's spyware, there's info at: http://www.facebook.com/songwritersatplay
Wednesday, May 17 — Ellen plays the "Peaceful Point House Concert and Potluck," a 6 pm event sponsored by Unity-Five Cities, at 2850 Peaceful Point Lane, Arroyo Grande, CA. She reports it's "A beautiful setting for a sunset concert and potluck with congenial folks! Contact Chris Garey at 805-489-7359, chris@peacefulpoint.com for reservations and directions. Suggested donation $10-15."
Friday, May 19 — Ellen plays the "Monterey House Concert" series at 7:30 pm. She says, "This will be my third annual May house concert at this lovely, musical home overlooking Monterey Bay! Hosts Judy and Charlie have a wonderful space for music, camaraderie and dessert! Suggested donation $15." For information and directions, contact Judy at jhtherrien@icloud.com
Saturday, May 20 — Ellen plays a noon-2 pm set at the 4th annual "CORNER STORE WEST MOUNTAIN MUSIC FEST," on Whiffle Tree Ranch in Carmel Valley, 18865 Cachagua Rd, Carmel Valley, CA. The music continues all day, emceed by the inimitable JOE CRAVEN, and then more on Sunday. Ellen says, "I’m excited to be part of this, organized by the DC-based Corner Store Arts. For tickets and more information, visit www.cornerstorearts.org or call/text 202-255-2180."
Sunday, May 21 — Ellen is the musical guest at the Center for Spiritual Awakening in Pacific Grove, CA. She says it's "Special music for Sunday Service at 10 am, at 522 Central Av, Pacific Grove. For information about the Center, contact TheCSA.info@gmail.com or call 831-372-1942."
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# 6 news feature...
ERNEST TROOST's latest — an original and ironic "Make America Great Again"
There's no shortage of political satire, and some of it is musical. A little of it is good, and this is one of those.
Ernest Troost is best known in the Folk-Americana world as an L.A. bluesman who is the West Coast's chief practitioner of the "Piedmont blues" style. There's a whole lot more.
He has composed and produced two critically-praised albums of songs for JUDY COLLINS, setting the words to music of poets that include Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, and Gertrude Stein.
He is also a recipient of the prestigious "Kerrville New Folk Award" for his original songwriting.
There's more. Ernest Troost is an Emmy award-winning composer of scores for films and television, including the cult-classic "Tremors" and HBO’s award-winning "Lesson Before Dying."
His latest album, "O LOVE," has been a hit with fans and critics alike.
His evocative style combines folk and Piedmont-blues-style guitar picking with timeless stories and colorful character portrayals drawn from the American past and present. Sometimes that features uhh, prominent personages from the American present. Like now.
We featured several live performances with him on-air on the gone-but-not-forgotten "Tied to the Tracks" broadcast radio show.
Ernest Troost gets plenty of good press.
"Troost is a brilliant Americana songwriter... making pensive, sometimes snarling, Steve Earle-ish, lyrically-driven Americana ... with inspired playing and smartly judicious arrangements. Fans of Steve Earle and Jeffrey Foucault will find an awful lot to like in Troost’s brooding, intense songcraft." — Delarue, New York Music Daily.
"Wow. ... Lyrically, he’s going to knock you flat with one punch. Killer stuff throughout, this is the work of an undeniable talent taking it to the next level of the game. You just might not hear Americana the same way again after you take a byte of this. Easily one of the best ‘folk’ albums to come out this year... Check it out." — Chris Spector, Midwest Record.
In addition, he plays gigs in venues large and small, always draws a crowd, and has an enthusiastic fan base. That's where you'll catch him playing plenty of what you came for, and lots of surprises.
Surprises like this one, the reason you're reading this feature.
Right now, online, you can catch L.A. bluesman ERNEST TROOST performing his original (and very ironic) "Make America Great Again." Enjoy:
https://soundcloud.com/ernest-troost/make-america-great-again-12
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# 7 news feature
FOR A CAJUN LANDMARK, IT'S ASHES TO ASHES, HALL-OF-FAME TO DUST
Even as Cajun, zydeco and Creole music is featured in a growing number of festivals in California, across America, and around the world, things in the music's Louisiana home country continue to struggle.
Oil development, beyond the infamous man-made "oil volcano" in the Gulf, is a betrothal to the devil. Big Oil sponsors local music and crawfish festivals in New Orleans, down into the few cities of the Mississippi Delta. Moreover, the region depends on the jobs. But between the deadly pollution of oil spills and petrochemical plants, the rich wildlife is all but gone.
Pumping oil from the ground in wetlands has caused the land itself to sink and succumb to inundation. Narrow natural channels have been widened for drilling equipment and pipeline supply barges through places that were once lush bayou. That destroys habitat and natural systems collapse. Along with the devastation of age-old natural wetlands, human settlements dating to before the American Revolution have sunk or been deserted as their fisheries vanished.
The quintessential Louisiana dance hall has been on the cultural endangered species list for years. Many places that once resounded with fiddle and accordion and happy shouts and songs in Cajun French have succumbed to abandonment and decay. On its home ground, it's all being forgotten. Even the place intended as a hall of fame and museum to preserve a record of the rich music and cultural past didn't escape the fate of so many vanished Louisiana music venues.
Dick Brainard reported this week to his Cajun-Zydeco dance audience, "Late news is that Miller’s Zydeco Hall of Fame (old Richard’s Club) in Lawtell (Louisiana) burned to the ground last week. It was a fire trap waiting for someone’s cigarette to do the job. Blessing (that) no one was inside... the windows were nailed shut."
There are no tears when all those Louisiana bands perform on the local festival scene. the joy of the music won't allow it. But some of those festivals have blues stages, and it's only a matter of time before you hear the sense of loss and lamentation there. See the following news feature to get your joy back.
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# 8 news feature
CAJUN-ZYDECO-CREOLE-BLUES FESTIVAL SEASON & CONCERTS IN SOUTHERN CAL
After the depressing news from Cajun country in the preceding story, let's get back in touch with the joy of Lou'siana music and dance. Here the upcoming Cajun-Zydeco-Creole-Blues festivals, and/or other festivals featuring Cajun music, PLUS some concerts, club gigs and the like that focus on Cajun music, JUST in Southern & Central California. They're date-chronological:
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✔ Fri, May 5: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, Ca; phone For reservations, 626-798-6236. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
✔ Sat & Sun, May 5 & 6, 2017: "CENTRAL COAST FOLK FESTIVAL" is a new "Acoustic Folk & Jug Band Jubilee" at the Red Barn, 2180 Palisades Av, Baywood-Los Osos, CA, and features the HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND.
✔ May 6; 2017: 9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" is FREE and happens on several stages in South Pasadena, CA, and features Grammy noms LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS.
✔ Sat, May 6: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS play the 4 pm monthly concert series that includes dinner, and this time, dancing, at the Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; reservations necessary at deependsessions@gmail.com
✔ A different LIVE BAND plays each time at the monthly Cajun-Zydeco Dance Series, every second Sunday, 4:30 pm, at the Golden Sails Hotel, 6285 Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach 90803.
✔ May 9, 2017: HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND plays a 10 pm set at The Escondite Bar, 410 Boyd St, Los Angeles 90013; no cover.
✔ May 11-14, 2017: 16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA, is obviously LOADED with cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
✔ May 13, 2017: BON TEMPS SOCIAL CLUB CAJUN & ZYDECO DANCERS do their monthly (second Saturday), 6:30-10:30 pm participatory event at the War Memorial Hall, Balboa Park, 3325 Zoo Dr, San Diego, CA.
✔ Sun, May 21, 2017: 57th annual "TOPANGA BANJO•FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL" at Paramount Ranch, 2903 Cornell Rd, Agoura Hills, CA. The many featured acts at this wonderful festival include the HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND.
✔ Every 3rd Monday of the month, through this fall, there are CAJUN-ZYDECO DANCES with lessons at Tio Leo's, 5302 Napa St, San Diego, from 6-9:30 pm.
✔ May 27 & 28, 2017: (Sat & Sun of Memorial day Weekend) "SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES FESTIVAL," at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Av, Simi Valley, CA; yep, a reliably first-rate and endlessly tuneful event.
✔ Jun 17-18, 2017: 31st annual "LONG BEACH BAYOU" Zydeco, Blues, Creole & Cajun Festival at Rainbow Lagoon Events Park, Long Beach, CA; whether or not you get to the big fests in San Diego or Simi Valley, you need to be at this one. The lagoon is the perfect setting for all that great music.
✔ Aug 22, 2017: LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, Grammy noms, play the 6 pm memorial park Concert series sponsored bt Pasadena senior Center (all ages welcome) in Memorial Park, 85 E. Holly St, Pasadena, CA 91103; www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/events/concerts-in-the-park
✔ Sep 2 & 3, 2017: 22nd annual "SEBASTOPOL CAJUN ZYDECO & DELTA RHYTHM FESTIVAL" in Sebastopol, CA. Up north, and looks good.
✔ Sep 9, 2017: LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, Grammy noms, play the 7:30 pm Olivas Adobe Concert Series, 4200 Olivas Park Dr, Ventura, CA 92002; www.cityofventura.net/mus
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For details on all these, PLUS many more Folk-Americana festivals, AND a whole lot more Cajun-zydeco-Creole-Lou'siana music fests, AND BLUES FESTIVALS — throughout the US, go lose yourself in the Guide's new
"ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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# 9 news feature...
NU-BLU, TOP BLUEGRASS STARS, RELEASE BRAND NEW ALBUM "VAGABONDS"
Available now on Voxhall Records or download on iTunes, Amazon, and other e-music sites; the latest single, "Still Small Voice," featuring Jimmy Fortune debuts its first week on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey.
Word came April 28 from Nashville that "The wait is over, as bluegrass/Americana group Nu-Blu releases their brand new album, 'Vagabonds.' The project is the band's sixth studio album."
The lead single, "Still Small Voice" featuring Country Music Hall of Fame singer Jimmy Fortune continues to turn heads since its release earlier this year, debuting last month on the "Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey" prior to the release of the album. The collection, released on the Voxhall Records label, is also available on iTunes and Amazon. As always, we encourage you to support your local record store to get a copy.
"We are happy to be able to present to our fans this collection of songs, straight from our heart," said Nu-Blu lead vocalist Carolyn Routh.
She continues, using a strategic pause to recognize fans as fellow travelers, saying, "It's even more exciting that 'Still Small Voice' debuted on this month's National Bluegrass Survey in Bluegrass Unlimited. Thank you all and we hope you enjoy, Vagabonds."
Nu-Blu is kicking their promotional efforts into high gear. The award-winning group stopped by the legendary broadcast home of the "Grand Ole Opry" since its earliest days, WSM 650AM studios. There, they performed songs from the new album on middle-Tennessee's hit program "Today in Nashville," for host Devon O'Day and the listening audience. Nu-Blu appeared as special guests last Sunday evening for "The Music Row Show," where they talked about the recording process and give listeners an inside glimpse of how the album was made.
There are no signs of slowing down any time soon, with upcoming features on the syndicated radio program "Whisky & Cigarettes," the TV show "Nashville Entertainment Weekly," and more.
Hailing from Siler City, NC, the textbook definition of a picturesque small southern town, Nu-Blu's heart and soul is husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh. Carolyn's caramel-coated soprano is one of the band's defining traits, at times a tender lullaby, at times a freight train headed straight for you, but always unwinding a surprising tale. Daniel is the group's backbone, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who also handles band management. TJ Honaker on vocals and banjo, and Clint White on fiddle/mandolin round out the quartet's warm, layered, American roots sound. Together they deliver upbeat, blazing-fingers pick work just as well as gentle, heartwarming ballads, and they do it all with a natural togetherness that can't be faked, forged over hundreds of shows on the road.
Bonafide touring sensations, they are returning to the road for "The Vagabonds Tour," promising bluegrass fans an opportunity to meet the band and purchase a copy of the new album where their signing pens are at the ready.
Their summer concert and festival set list will feature a combination of fan favorites, covers, and cuts off of the new album that they have not previously performed live.
Fans can keep up with Nu-Blu's latest shows on their newly revamped website, www.Nu-Blu.com.
Here's the track list for Nu-Blu's new album, "Vagabonds":
1. The Bridges That You've Burned
2. A Lot More Love
3. Still Small Voice (featuring Jimmy Fortune & Ben Isaacs)
4. 640 Battlefield Drive
5. How Many Rivers
6. Troublemaker
7. Gypsies on Parade
8. A Fool and Her Heart
9. Surround Me With Love
10. Good Hearted Woman
11. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
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Nu-Blu's tour, "The Vagabonds" has the band playing the "ROUTE 66 BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" June 16 & 17 in Victorville, CA. Then they'll be awhile getting back to Southern Cal, playing the "SUMMERGRASS" festival, August 19 & 20 in San Diego County, plus gigs Aug. 25 for the San Diego Folk Heritage Concert series in Poway, and Aug. 27 in Escondido, at "Two Worlds Connect."
Both those festivals have major write-ups in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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And there's sumpin' else that's too good that we've got to note for you.
They're playing the "SUSANVILLE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" in Northern Cal on June 23rd & June 25th — and playing hooky on June 24th to run off to Cumberland Gap, TN, to play the "WHITE LIGHTNING FESTIVAL."
And who says bluegrassers aren't rock stars?
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For readers elsewhere and summer travelers, here's Nu-Blu's full summer schedule:
May 5 - Wauseon, OH - McCance Cabin Concerts
May 6 - Howard City, MI - Zellie's Opry House
May 13 - Culpeper, VA - Peace, Love and Bluegrass
May 27 - Grafton, OH - Grafton Fair
Jun 9 - Valdese, NC - Family Friday Nights
Jun 13 - Tucson, AZ - The Big Bluegrass Show
Jun 16-17 - Victorville, CA - Route 66 Bluegrass Festival
Jun 23 - Susanville, CA - Susanville Bluegrass Festival
Jun 24 - Cumberland Gap, TN - White Lightning Festival
Jun 25 - Susanville, CA - Susanville Bluegrass Festival
Jul 15 - Selma, NC - Rudy Theater
Jul 22 - Ramseur, NC - Summer Concert Series
Jul 29 - Nashville, TN - WSM Midnite Jamboree
Aug 4 - Glenwood Springs, CO - Garfield County Fair
Aug 19-20 - San Diego, CA - Summergrass
Aug 25 - Poway, CA - San Diego Folk Heritage Concert
Aug 27 - Escondido, CA - Two Worlds Connect
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# 10 news feature...
NEW CD BY WORLD MUSIC STAR MEKLIT FEATURES ANDREW BIRD ON VIOLIN AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
It's being called "A vibrant and inspired mix of Ethio-Jazz roots along with American pop, R&B and folk influences."
The Guide rarely ventures into anything nominally categorized as "world music." Wait'll you see why we're making an exception.
Since the release of her acclaimed 2010 debut album "On A Day Like This…" (Porto Franco Records), Meklit has become an international force.
Both a 2009 TED "Global Fellow" and a 2012 "Senior Fellow," you need to watch her stunningly wonderful, very articulate 2015 TED talk. It's a delightful integration of music theory, titled, "The Unexpected Beauty of Everyday Sounds." It's at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAkkckxE9i8
Co-founder of both the "Nile Project" and the "Arba Minch Collective," Meklit has been a featured voice in the "UN Women" theme song "One Women," collaborated with musical legend Pee Wee Ellis. She's been commissioned to write music by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, served as an artist-in-residence at NYU, led multiple creative residencies in Manchester with the arts powerhouse "Brighter Sound," inaugurated the "UN Campaign for Gender Equality in Africa" with a concert in Addis Ababa, and she sits on the board of "Yerba Buena Center for the Arts."
Ethiopian-American artist Meklit has shared a new video for her single "I Want to Sing For Them All". The jubilant video, first released at Vibe dot com, is on YouTube, at:
https://youtu.be/MwDrcvGTODs
There are some interesting African instruments, including one with a double neck, and of course the horns are very good.
Vibe describes it as "a beautiful medley of lush and rich sounds from the African diaspora that inspired the song."
The track also features Andrew Bird on violin. Meklit adds, "'I Want To Sing For Them All' is my anthem... I am an immigrant... This music is Ethio-American, just like me."
The song is on her soon-to-be-released new album "When the People Move, the Music Moves Too" coming June 23rd on Six Degrees Records. Already building buzz, the album was teased by "New York Magazine" in their "Approval Matrix" feature, earning a coveted spot on the "Brilliant" end of the spectrum. The record was produced by Dan Wilson, whose previous work with artists including Adele, Taylor Swift and John Legend — as well as fronting the band Semisonic — has earned multiple Grammy awards.
The album also includes Andrew Bird on violin and whistling, as well as New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band horns.
Music promoter Justin Schmidt says, "Meklit's upcoming record crosses both musical and generational borders to create a unified artistic vision, united behind her unique and unmistakable voice."
"When the People Move, the Music Moves Too" is the result of a fateful encounter Meklit experienced in Addis Ababa with the legendary vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke, who helped spark Ethiopia’s 1960s musical renaissance. She was deeply engaged with his music at the time, but he pushed her to think about how to bring her own experiences into her songs.
“He was very pointed with me, saying several times ‘You keep innovating!’” she recalls. “He took me to task and he tasked me. It took me a while to digest that. It’s a big thing to have someone like that say that to you. I sat with it for a couple of years.”
Meklit has embodied multiplicity since she first started performing at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House in the mid-2000s. Born in Ethiopia, she moved with her family to Iowa at the age of two, and spent much of her adolescence in Brooklyn, soaking up the sounds of hip hop on the street. After studying political science at Yale she spent several years in Seattle before moving to San Francisco, looking to immerse herself in the city’s thriving arts scene.
“I’m always thinking about America and Ethiopia, about how the hybridization is going to work in both places," she observes.
The lapidary orchestrations on her new record were created by Meklit herself, with the help of her bassist, Sam Bevan.
But Meklit is quick to credit Dan Wilson’s lithe musical mind with a major role in shaping the ultimate sound of the record, in addition to his contribution of co-writing two songs. She describes Wilson’s "songwriting precision, and razor sharp, generous feedback" that "helped to weave a remarkable clarity into the music," enhancing Meklit’s already vivid hues. A prolific songwriter, arranger and producer, Wilson "seemed to know exactly which player to place where" to accentuate Meklit’s sound.
Justin Schmidt says, Wilson brought-in Ethio-Cali’s tenor saxophonist Randall Fisher, who plays a perfectly calibrated Ethio-jazz intro on “You Got Me.” And Ethiopian-born, L.A.-based keyboardist Kibrome Birhane’s spare piano work levitates “Yesterday is a Tizita.”
There's more in the Vibe feature, at: http://www.vibe.com/2017/05/premiere-meklit-i-want-to-sing-for-them-all/
Here's the album track list for the upcoming
"When the People Move, the Music Moves Too":
1. This Was Made Here
2. I Want To Sing For Them All (featuring Andrew Bird)
3. Supernova
4. You Are My Luck (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
5. Yerakeh Yeresal (featuring Andrew Bird)
6. You Got Me (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
7. Yesterday Is A Tizita
8. Human Animal
9. Sweet Or Salty
10. Birthday Song (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
11. Memories Of The Future (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
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# 11 news feature...
NEW RELEASES OF GREAT OLD MATERIAL: THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, THE DOORS
Re-released and repackaged classic albums that add tracks without deleting any of the original material always excite. When the added material includes unreleased songs, mastered to state-of-the-art standards, it's time to celebrate. You'll find examples of all that in the trio of albums here. Surely these are the ones you want in the car for the drive to the next festival.
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"FISHIN' IN THE DARK: THE BEST OF THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND" released Feb 24, 2017, on Rhino Records.
It's a 21-track record available as a CD ($14.98) or download from ITunes or Amazon.
Here are the tracks, all performed by the Dirt Band:
1. Mr. Bojangles
2. Ripplin' Waters
3. An American Dream
4. Make a Little Magic
5. Fire In The Sky
6. Dance Little Jean (2001 Digital Remaster)
7. Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
8. High Horse
9. Modern Day Romance
10. Partners, Brothers And Friends
11. Stand A Little Rain
12. Cadillac Ranch
13. I've Been Lookin'
14. Oh What A Love
15. Workin' Man [Nowhere To Go]
16. I Love Only You
17. Fishin' In The Dark
18. Baby's Got A Hold On Me
19. Face On The Cutting Room Floor
20. Down That Road Tonight
21. Home Again In My Heart
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/fishin-in-the-dark-the-best-of-the-nitty-gritty-dirt-band?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-FishinInDarkBes-MoreInfo-right-more-5&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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KRIS KRISTOFFERSON — "THE AUSTIN SESSIONS (EXPANDED EDITION)" released Feb 10, 2017, on Rhino Records.
First, there's what was left off the original album. "Best Of All Possible Worlds" and "Jody And The Kid" make their debut on the expanded version. Fred Mollin says the songs show different sides of Kristofferson' songwriting. He should know. Mollin produced the original album, and he tells the story behind the sessions in the collection's liner notes. Of the two added songs, he says, "One is lighthearted, dry, sarcastic and one of the greatest examples of Kris' humor and storytelling, while the other is just deeply emotional and shows the true aching heart that can be felt like an arrow, from Kris to the listener."
In the summer of 1997, Kris Kristofferson spent a few days in Texas recording stripped-down versions of his best-known songs. Released by Atlantic Records in 1999, The Austin Sessions pairs the acclaimed outlaw country songwriter with a band of studio aces and guest harmony vocalists for intimate versions of classics like "Me and Bobby McGee," "Why Me?" and "Sunday Morning Coming Down."
Rhino Records celebrates these powerful recordings with an expanded version of the album that features remastered sound and includes those two unreleased session outtakes. In addition to Mollin's new liner notes, the new package features several unpublished photos from the time.
Kristofferson recorded The Austin Sessions at Arlyn Studios in Texas with a group of session veterans from Los Angeles and Nashville who were hand-picked by Mollin, who also plays acoustic guitar on the album. Kristofferson's longtime touring guitarist Stephen Bruton appears on several songs as well.
Mollin recalls: "I knew in my heart that I could pull off a great under-produced production and give Kris the album he always wanted to make: one that felt like it had the uniqueness and rootsy feeling that Dylan accomplished on his early electric albums." Several guests join Kristofferson on the album, including Jackson Browne ("Me And Bobby McGee"), Steve Earle ("Sunday Morning Coming Down"), Vince Gill ("Help Me Make It Through The Night"), Catie Curtis ("Nobody Wins"), and Mark Knopfler ("Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends").
It's a 14-track record, available as a CD ($14.98), on vinyl ($21.98), or download from ITunes or Amazon.
Here are the track listings, all performed by Kristofferson.
1. Me And Bobby McGee (Remastered)
2. Sunday Morning Coming Down (Remastered)
3. For The Good Times (Remastered)
4. The Silver Tongued Devil And I (Remastered)
5. Help Me Make It Through The Night (Remastered)
6. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) [Remastered]
7. To Beat The Devil (Remastered)
8. Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame (Remastered)
9. Why Me (Remastered)
10. Nobody Wins (Remastered)
11. The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 (Remastered)
12. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends (Remastered)
13. Best Of All Possible Worlds
14. Jody And The Kid
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/the-austin-sessions-expanded-edition?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-KrisKristoffers-right-image-6&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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"THE DOORS 50th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION" released March 31, 2017, is a 3 CD/LP set with 41 tracks, packaged in a 12" x 12" hardcover book ($64.98, inclusive), on Rhino Records.
We're not suggesting that all '60s classic rock needs to be embraced as Americana, but a whole lot has successfully migrated and found not just public acceptance, but joyful acclaim among Folk-Americana audiences when they hear it. Take some individual tracks from the Doors catalogue, and you've been hearing covers of them for years from folkies performing in concert. Besides, there is great energy in the original recordings and performances — if admittedly dark at times — and without a doubt, there's originality here not found in much of today's music.
That, and there's Jim Morrison's vocals. Revolutionary in their time — against a backdrop of radio's jangly Top-40 of "She Loves me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," and surf music — what ballad singer who thoroughly engages an audience in our time does not channel a bit of Morrison?
This package of recordings and a book has many things that make it special. For one, the third disc features a 1967 live performance from The Matrix in San Francisco recorded just weeks after their debut album, "The Doors," was released.
Packaged in a 12 x 12 hardcover book, THE DOORS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION includes a remastered version of the album’s original stereo mix, available on CD for the first time in a decade and remastered for the first time in nearly 30 years. The album’s original mono mix was also remastered for this set and is making its CD debut here. An LP-version of the mono mix is also included.
Music journalist David Fricke provides detailed liner notes for the set, which includes a selection of rare and previously unseen photographs.
This album offers a rare opportunity to hear the band on the verge of superstardom with live performances recorded during that March 7, 1967 show at the Matrix in San Francisco. The Matrix recordings heard on this deluxe edition were sourced from the recently discovered original tapes, previously thought to be lost. You should note that the Matrix recordings originally released in 2008 were from a third-generation source, so the sound quality of the versions debuting here is second to none.
Packed with electrifying performances, the disc contains live versions of eight of the tracks prom their classic studio album, "The Doors," including “Twentieth Century Fox,” “The Crystal Ship” and “Back Door Man.”
Here's the track list:
1. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Remastered]
2. Soul Kitchen (Remastered)
3. The Crystal Ship (Remastered)
4. Twentieth Century Fox (Remastered)
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Remastered]
6. Light My Fire (Remastered)
7. Back Door Man (Remastered)
8. I Looked At You (Remastered)
9. End Of The Night (Remastered)
10. Take It As It Comes (Remastered)
11. The End (Remastered)
12. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Mono] [Remastered]
13. Soul Kitchen (Mono) [Remastered]
14. The Crystal Ship (Mono) [Remastered]
15. Twentieth Century Fox (Mono) [Remastered]
16. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Mono] [Remastered]
17. Light My Fire (Mono) [Remastered]
18. Back Door Man (Mono) [Remastered]
19. I Looked At You (Mono) [Remastered]
20. End Of The Night (Mono) [Remastered]
21. Take It As It Comes (Mono) [Remastered]
22. The End (Mono) [Remastered]
23. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967]
24. Soul Kitchen (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
25. The Crystal Ship (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
26. Twentieth Century Fox (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
27. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967]
28. Light My Fire (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
29. Back Door Man (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
30. The End (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
31. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Mono]
32. Soul Kitchen (Mono)
33. The Crystal Ship (Mono)
34. Twentieth Century Fox (Mono)
35. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Mono]
36. Light My Fire (Mono)
37. Back Door Man (Mono)
38. I Looked At You (Mono)
39. End Of The Night (Mono)
40. Take It As It Comes (Mono)
41. The End (Mono)
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/the-doors-deluxe-edition3cd1lp?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-DoorsDoors50thA-product-detail-title-1&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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ADDED NOTE: For Doors fans, one of the recent (10th annual) "RECORD STORE DAY," one of Rhino's special releases was this:
"THE DOORS - LIVE AT THE MATRIX '67" - 12-inch, 180-gram vinyl, individually numbered, in a limited edition of 10,000 copies.
If you can still find one at your favorite store, it goes for just $21.98.
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Other Record Store Day special releases that may still be out there, ONLY in record stores:
"GRATEFUL DEAD - P.N.E. GARDEN AUDITORIUM, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 7/29/66" - 2-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, limited edition of 6,600 copies, $29.98.
"STEVIE NICKS - RARITIES 1981 - 1983" - 12-inch EP, limited edition of 7,500 copies, $14.98.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS - NUGGETS: COME TO THE SUNSHINE (Soft Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults)" - 2-LP on 180-gram orange and yellow marble vinyl, limited edition of 5,500 copies, $31.98.
"ANNI-FRID LYNGSTAD - FRIDA" - 12-inch 180-gram vinyl, limited edition of 3,000 copies, $21.98.
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The Guide celebrated the annual "Record Store Day" in a recent full news edition, at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-music-news-lotsa-great-stuff.html
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# 12 news feature...
"WILLIE NELSON’S LUCK REUNION" 2017 INCLUDED SOUTHERN CAL'S THE WILD REEDS
The full scope of things is covered in a feature story by Jeremy Burchard in "4 days." (Link below.) Here are some key excerpts:
This year’s lineup for Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion concert event certainly packed a punch. On March 16, Margo Price, Conor Oberst and more treked to Nelson’s ranch for a day of seriously cool vibes.
The Wild Reeds — a great young Southern Cal band — joined Willie’s son Lukas Nelson and his band the Promise of the Real; Parker Millsap; Aaron Lee Tasjan; Big Thief; Brent Cobb; Lillie Mae; Insects vs Robots; Paul Thorn with the McCrary Sisters; Valley Queen; Devon Gilfillian; Bee Caves; and the National Reserve.
The event coincided with Austin’s South by Southwest festival. But if you weren't at SXSW, you can still access the feel of the Luck Reunion 2017 through Burchard's full story. He says, "...the whole getaway seemed like a nice break from an otherwise chaotic scene taking over Austin all throughout mid-March."
Read his complete story at:
www.wideopencountry.com/luck-reunion-2017-lineup/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Read%20more&utm_campaign=This%20Week%3A%201/20/17
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#13 news feature...
BROAD STAGE WINS OVATION AWARD FOR "1984" AS "BEST PRESENTED PRODUCTION OF 2016"
The Ovation Award, as the L.A. Times acknowledges, is the "highest-profile contest for local theatre." At the 27th annual L.A. STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS, the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica won the "Best Presented Production" category for its staging of Headlong Theatre's "1984" by George Orwell. the play is a new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan.
The award comes as Orwell's 1949 novel, "1984," has enjoyed a resurgence to the top of Bestseller lists.
"We could not be more thrilled to receive this honor," said Jane Deknatel, Executive Director of The Broad Stage. "'1984' was arguably the most visceral piece of theater we have presented in the nine year history of the organization. We are proud of the work we do, and we look forward to seeing our theater community grow and prosper."
"1984" launched its American Tour at The Broad Stage and ran January 8 - February 6, 2016. The production from Britain's Headlong Theatre Company, directed by Jeremy Herrin, used technical effects to create a sensory-overload visceral experience, keeping the audience disturbingly complicit. The Los Angeles Times said of 1984, "[The] theatrical imagination of this British import brings the tale shockingly to life onstage."
Founded in 1989, the Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are LA theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Rules Committee.
The Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401; 310-434-3200; www.thebroadstage.com
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# 14 news feature...
MARITIME MUSIC / SEA CHANTEYS FESTIVALS & NEWS
It's tough to find a sea chantey (shanty) sing in Southern California. The best known one is aboard the old wood tall ship "Star of India" dockside in San Diego in July, and it's a full-blown festival. There are chantey sings aboard the Battleship Iowa and at the Whale and Ale restaurant, both in San Pedro, on an irregular basis. And we are especially fortunate to have the Ocean Institute in Costa Mesa, where the annual "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" has music on multiple stages and aboard half a dozen tall ships (the monicker for large sailing vessels with multiple tall masts that hold their sails).
The 25th annual "SEA CHANTEY FESTIVAL" aboard the "Star of India" happens Sunday, August, 13, 2017, on board ship at 1306 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA. It's sponsored by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, along with San Diego Folk Heritage.
The annual "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" is September 8-10, 2017, at the Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr, Dana Point, CA 92629.
Full info on both, and many other maritime music festivals, are in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
Other Pacific coastal cities have salt-saturated tuneful culture happening all the time, and May has some fine offerings. The festivals among them are described in detail at the above link.
Beyond the festivals, there are additional things you can include in your summer travels.
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The "STORIES OF THE SEA" contest at the Highliner Pub in Seattle happens May 11. As always, there are frequent chantey sings in Port Townsend and Seattle, and more.
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The "MAKING THE CUT" CD, with winners of the recent maritime songwriting contest, is now being recorded and will be released on July 22 with a CD release concert at the Ballard Locks. Those are the locks that raise or lower boats and ships between the Pacific Ocean and freshwater Lake Washington, in Seattle. Same thing as the Panama Canal on a smaller scale. Songs on the new album are written around the theme of the centennial of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Ballard Locks.
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Some of the contest winners will be performing their songs at a special concert at the annual "NORTHWEST FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL," one of the largest free acoustic music events in America. It happens in the hugeness of Seattle Center, the preserved World's Fair site. That particular concert is May 28, 3-4 pm, on the Folklife Café stage.
The Guide's gigantic "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" has details on NW Folklife, on the local "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" and "SEA CHANTEY FESTIVAL" and literally hundreds of other 2017 Folk-Americana and acoustic music festivals.
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If you're into the music and looking for new releases?
MARY GARVEY will have a new CD out at the Northwest Folklife Festival. It will be called "Codfish in the Spring of the Year" and will feature some local and national favorite musicians, and songs from Basque Country, Alaska, New England, Newfoundland, Acadia, Poland, and Sweden. It will sell for $10 with cover, and $5 without.
We can report a bit more on the maritime arts community. Wendy Joseph will have a poem published in the "Along the Shore" anthology, an international poetic celebration of the sea from Lost Tower Publications.
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For help with finding things?
Alice Winship is our longtime source of Northwest maritime music news. If you're headed to anyplace by the sea in the Pacific Northwest, from Portland-ia north — especially anywhere in or around Seattle and Puget Sound — contact Alice to learn about concerts or events while you're there.
Tell her we sent you.
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TWO of the MOST RECENT "Music News" editions of the Guide contain things you need to know:
"Remembering BILL BRYSON, bluegrass musician extraordinaire" is the May 3rd special edition, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/remembering-bill-bryson-bluegrass.html
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We report the sad news about JIMMY LaFAVE being diagnosed with terminal cancer, received from Slaid Cleaves and his wife, Karen. It's an up-top feature, added when the news arrived. Plus, that April 21st edition ran with more six music news stories. It's at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-music-news-lotsa-great-stuff.html
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MUCH, MUCH MORE is coming soon — that includes MUSIC NEWS and our massive guide to the Spring-through Fall Music Festivals:
Both the LOCAL and NATIONAL Folk-Americana MUSIC FESTIVAL scene !
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LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...
Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox?
What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
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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. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds 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 bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
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Welcome! Here's what's in this very full, very timely, very newsy edition.
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CONTENTS
1) THIS WEEKEND is Festival-Crazy! Here's a Guide to Maximizing Your Fun!
2) BOB DYLAN finally gets his Nobel prize; and DYLANFEST is this Sunday in Torrance
3) LAURIE LEWIS, Bluegrasser and Grammy winner has news, and she plays Saturday night
4) PETER, PAUL & MARY duo play "Music2Life" Benefit in Ventura, May 13
5) Obscure here, famous elsewhere, and wonderful: ELLEN STAPENHORST
6) ERNEST TROOST's latest — an original and ironic "Make America Great Again"
7) For a Cajun landmark, it's ashes to ashes, Hall-Of-Fame to dust
8) Cajun-Zydeco-Creole-Blues FESTIVAL SEASON & concerts in Southern Cal
9) NU-BLU, top bluegrass stars, release brand new album "Vagabonds"
10) New CD by World Music star MEKLIT features ANDREW BIRD on violin and THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
11) New releases of great old material: THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, THE DOORS
12) "WILLIE NELSON’s Luck Reunion" 2017 included Southern Cal's THE WILD REEDS
13) The Broad Stage wins Ovation Award for "1984" as "Best Presented Production of 2016"
14) Maritime Music / Sea Chanteys Festivals & News
Let's get started!
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# 1 news feature...
THIS WEEKEND is Festival-Crazy! Here's a Guide to Maximizing Your Fun!
With the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" available for you — and for us, as a starting point — we reckoned with all it offers, plus we factored-in the concerts, and sorted-out things into a plan of attack.
SO MUCH of what's wonderful is FREE, so there's no excuse for staying home, raiding the refrigerator and cleaning the cat box. Here's how we're gonna play it.
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✔ FRIDAY NIGHT... CONCERT TIME with toooo many tasty options!
Fri, May 5 — JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, Ca; phone For reservations, 626-798-6236. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
*** If it's sold-out or if you're located farther north? They also play SATURDAY, at the 4 pm Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; see "Saturday night" — it's just below.
Friday is an especially rich night for choices...
(Up north) Fri, May 5 — THE SUSIE GLAZE NEW FOLK ENSEMBLE plus banjo maven DONNA LYNN CASKEY play the 7:30 pm "Cambridge Drive Concert Series," 550 Cambridge Dr, Goleta, CA 93117; make a reservation at: cambridge.concerts@gmail.com or by phone, 805-964-0436.
(Down south) Fri, May 5 — CLIVE CARROLL plays the 7:30 pm "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" at the Dana Point Community House, 24642 San Juan St, Dana Point, CA 92629; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
Or there's this fun one in the SFV:
Fri, May 5 — Kulak’s Woodshed has the monthly show, 8-10 pm, with SEVERIN BROWNE & FRIENDS, at 5230 Laurel Canyon Bl, North Hollywood. In town on her annual musical swing, superb songwriter ELLEN STAPENHORST tells us, "I'll be one of the featured friends for this Friday night concert at the renowned Kulak's Woodshed, with my old pal Severin Browne." Details at www.kulakswoodshed.com
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✔ SATURDAY... MULTIPLE FESTIVAL DAY, and soooo worth the scramble!
9 am, we start with the FREE 18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" festival at the Fullerton Transportation Center (Amtrak's old Santa Fe Ry station), 120 E Santa Fe Av, Fullerton, CA 92832. It's a Saturday & Sunday event, May 6 & 7, and it's FREE. The real star this year is a large, operating steam locomotive, former Santa Fe 4-8-4 "Northern" type, number 3751. Though it's light on music, there's plenty more. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/fullerton-railroad-days-2017-may-6-7.html
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At NOON, we'll get to the FREE 55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" in Memorial Park, 222 W Sierra Madre Bl, Sierra Madre, CA. It happens both Saturday & Sunday, and it's loaded with a lot of activities and two stages of acoustic music that get underway at 12 pm. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/sierra-madre-art-fair-2017-may-6-7-all.html
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By the 3 pm start time, when plenty of acoustic acts take to multiple stages, it's the FREE 9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" — 60 bands across 15 stages — happening into the night, all over downtown South Pasadena, CA. Just a FEW of them are The Ploughboys, Lisa Haley & The Zydecats, Ozomatli, Tony Gilkyson, Calvin Joe & The Orange Grove Rangers, Rick Shea, Liv Kennedy, BrowderSister, Charlie Hickey, and James Hurley. Plus many, many more. Ride the Gold Line light rail and arrive at the center of things at 1121 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/eclectic-music-festival-art-walk-2017.html
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There's also these...
"WILD WEST DAY" Saturday only at the L.A. Co. Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Av, Arcadia, CA 91007. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/wild-west-day-2017-may-6-all-details.html
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34th annual "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" Saturday only at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 Topanga Cyn Bl, Topanga, CA. Details are at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/topanga-blues-festival-2017-may-6-all.html
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5th annual "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" Saturday & Sunday at the Ramona Rodeo Grounds, 421 Aqua Ln, Ramona CA 92065. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/ramona-old-west-days-2017-may-6-7-all.html
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2nd annual "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" Friday-Sunday in Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91350. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/bbq-beer-festival-2017-may-5-7-all.html
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"STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" Saturday evening at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Bl, Beverly Hills, CA 90211. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/straight-to-heart-music-festival-2017.html
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✔ SATURDAY NIGHT...
Plenty of FREE acts on multiple stages continue after the sun sets at the annual South Pasadena "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL" — see the link above for the deets of that event.
Plus, there are options to tempt you to duck-out early for any of many great concerts!
Sat, May 6 — Grammy winner LAURIE LEWIS & THE RIGHT HANDS bring their bluegrass-Americana to an 8 pm show at Boulevard Music, 4316 Sepulveda Bl, Culver City, CA 90230; tix at 310-398-2583.
Sat, May 6 — Autoharp master BRYAN BOWERS plays an 8 pm concert at the Fret House, 309 N Citrus Av, Covina, CA 91723; tix, 626-339-7020.
Sat, May 6 — DIRK HAMILTON plus WALDO BLISS play at 8 pm in McCabe’s Guitar Shop's concert hall, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; tix, 310-828-4497.
Sat, May 6 — ELLEN STAPENHORST, traveling troubadour, and her local musical brother STEVE STAPENHORST play their annual show, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena $18 at the door, but . reservations are strongly suggested, since al who know them go! Call 626-798-6236. (Fortunately, there are a few options to see Ellen, solo; see the separate news feature on her.)
(Up north) Sat, May 6 — PETER FELDMANN & THE VERY LONESOME BOYS play an 8 pm bluegrass show at their favorite venue, the Santa Ynez Valley Grange Hall, 2374 Alamo Pintado Av, Los Olivos, CA 93441; tix at 805-688-9894.
(Down south) Sat, May 6 — CLIVE CARROLL plays another "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" show, also at 7:30 pm, but this one is at the Mission Viejo Civic Center, 100 Civic Center Dr, Mission Viejo, CA 92691; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
Or, there's this one:
Sat, May 6: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 4 pm, at a monthly concert series that includes dinner, and this time, dancing, at the Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; reservations necessary at deependsessions@gmail.com. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
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✔ SUNDAY...
Sun, May 7 — There's no place else we can be! It's the 27th annual "DYLANFEST" in the Torino Plaza at the Torrance Cultural Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr, Torrance, CA 90503. Details at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/dylanfest-2017-may-7-all-details.html
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Sun, May 7 — RICK RUSKIN plays the 2 pm "David Naiditch House Concerts" series in Altadena, CA. Reservations get directions at: davidnaiditch@charter.net
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Sun, May 7 — CLIVE CARROLL plays the last of his three gigs for the "Lord Of The Strings Concert Series" at 3 pm at the LCA Wine Series at SOCO Center, 3303-3323 Hyland Av, Costa Mesa, CA 92626; reservations at 949-842-2227 or 949-244-6656.
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Sun, May 7 — INCENDIO plays a 3 pm concert at the Oxnard Performing Arts Center, 800 Hobson Way, Oxnard, CA 93030; 805-385-8147.
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Sun, May 7 — of course, the two-day FESTIVALS that we caught on Saturday are still happening. See Saturday listings for a pair of FREE festivals — the 18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" and the 55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR."
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✔ SUNDAY NIGHT...
Sun, May 7 — Double your dose of Dylan as JOHN YORK SINGS BOB DYLAN at 7 pm at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena, CA 92675; reservations strongly recommended, at 626-798-6236. Just leave Dylanfest a lil' early to get there...
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Sun, May 7 — THE RELUCTANT APOSTLES play "Unplugged!" with Davey Faragher, Katey Sagal, John Philip Shenale & Bob Thiele, Jr. at 8 pm in the concert hall behind McCabe’s Guitar Shop, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405; tix, 310-828-4497.
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(Up north) Sun, May 7 — RODNEY CROWELL does a 7 pm concert at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E Canon Perdido St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101; tix at 805-963-0761.
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# 2 news feature...
BOB DYLAN finally gets his Nobel prize; and DYLANFEST is this Sunday in Torrance
Nobel literature prize laureate Bob Dylan did finally meet with members of the Swedish Academy during a weekend visit to Stockholm and they bestowed his Nobel diploma and medal on March 25th.
The 75-year-old Dylan, who was awarded the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition," declined an invitation last year to the traditional Nobel Prize banquet and ceremony on Dec. 10, pleading other commitments.
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Antics and reticence about recognitions aside, you cannot beat the man's amazing catalogue of music.
And that's what's celebrated this Sunday, May 7, at the annual "DYLANFEST."
It's described in detail in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" and you can get just this one, all by itself, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/dylanfest-2017-may-7-all-details.html
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# 3 news feature...
LAURIE LEWIS, Bluegrasser and Grammy winner: news, and they play Saturday night
Saturday, May 6, LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM, with BRANDON GODMAN & MAX SCHWARTZ, play an 8 pm concert at Boulevard Music in Culver City, CA. Tix are available now, at www.boulevardmusic.com.
The night before that, Laurie and Tom are part of a Bay Area bluegrass event that's only possible in California. It's called "Bluegrass Pride" on Fri, May 5, at 7:30 pm at Ashkenaz, 1317 San Pablo Av, Berkeley, CA. It's a full-on Bluegrass Festival lineup in an evening, with performances by Laurie Lewis, Tom Rozum, Kathy Kallick, Suzy and Allegra Thompson, Molly Tuttle, Brandon Godman, Laurie Lewis & Tom Rozum, Larry Cohea, Tom Bekeny, Emily Mann, and more. It's a benefit for the bluegrass float in the "San Francisco Pride Parade." (Wonder if they're taking note in North Carolina?)
Anyone in Northern Cal should also note this one:
Tue, Jun 6, 2017:
"RIVER OF SONG" a "Benefit Concert for Northern California Rivers," with LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM, THOMPSONIA!, BARBARA HIGBIE, THE T SISTERS, BLAME SALLY, and JENNER FOX, at the Freight & Salvage, 2020 Addison St, Berkeley, CA; 510-644-2020; http://thefreight.org
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# 4 news feature...
PETER, PAUL & MARY duo play "Music2Life" Benefit in Ventura, May 13
Liz Sunde of Music2Life, tells us, "We've had another growth spurt, including our 'Embrey Human Rights awards show' and SXSW showcase. And we're heading to the West Coast where I hope you can join us for Music2Life's next (r)evolution! Our work with artists and nonprofits to design uplifting and galvanizing music-based experiences has never been more critical!"
This time around, Music2Life is partnering with their friends at the Rubicon Theatre in Ventura, CA, to co-host an inspired music series during the week of May 8th. It's entitled, "Music for Changing Times" and events include a special benefit concert for Music2Life as well as the launch of Music2Life's new "Activist Artist Fund" plus a social justice songwriting master class.
Liz, who is Noel Paul Stookey's daughter, says, "Dad and Peter [the living two-thirds on PETER, PAUL, & MARY] will headline Music2Life's benefit event on May 13 at 7 pm. It's a landmark theatrical concert to raise consciousness and pass the torch of social change music to a new generation."
She adds, "It's a 'tone poem' of Music2Life's mission — a multimedia evening of music, video flashbacks, and stories of equality, peace and the environment. The evening features spoken word artist Decora; Raptivist founder Aisha Fukushima, Eco-hip hop artist Tem Blessed, restorative justice artist Naima Shalhoub and the Rubicon Harmonix youth choir."
You know they're activists, because they don't just tell you about something. They recruit you. Liz says,
"Here are a few ways to get involved:
• If you or others you know in the Los Angeles/Ventura area can be there, WONDERFUL - here's a link for tickets.
• If you can't be there but could help us spread the word - please feel free to share or post this Facebook link: https://www.facebook.com/events/289720041478817/
• If you're intrigued by our Activist Artist Fund and would like to get more involved in its development, please contact Liz directly: 802-683-9212.
• Finally, if you or someone you know might consider underwriting part of the show, please see the sponsorship levels here or feel free to call the theatre directly ((805) 667-2912, ext. 224) and speak with Karyl Lynn Burns (Artistic Director); she's a good friend of the family."
Liz concludes with, "Thanks for considering. We appreciate the chance to be in touch and send our best for your good work. Stay strong and be kind."
(Signed)
Peace,
Liz & Noel Paul
Elizabeth Stookey Sunde
Executive Director
Music2Life
POB 409
Wilder, VT 05088
lizs@music2life.org
www.music2life.org
Facebook: music2lifeorg
Twitter: music2lifeorg
Music2Life℠ serves the causes of the world through the power of music.
"Music has this way of reaching across cultural lines, national lines, the lines of religion or language... It can reach into peoples' hearts and create awakening..."
— Michael Franti
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# 5 news feature...
Obscure here, famous elsewhere, and wonderful: Ellen Stapenhorst
Ellen Stapenhorst doesn't get to Southern Cal but once a year from her abode in Snowmass, Colorado, and from the rounds with her tours in the East. Now is the time to catch her locally. Fortunately, there are a few options.
Friday, May 5 — Ellen plays the 8-10 pm show at Kulak’s Woodshed with SEVERIN BROWNE & FRIENDS, at 5230 Laurel Canyon Bl, North Hollywood. She tells us, "I'll be one of the featured friends for this Friday night concert at the renowned Kulak's Woodshed, with my old pal Severin Browne." Deets at: www.kulakswoodshed.com
Saturday, May 6 — ELLEN & STEVE STAPENHORST play their annual brother-sister show at 7 pm at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena. They always performed an annual live show on the old "Tied to the Tracks" radio broadcast. Ellen says, "It’s always a treat to do a show at the Coffee Gallery Backstage with my brother Steve! Join us for an evening of great music, good stories and questionable humor! We'll do some new songs, as well as old favorites. Admission is $18 at the door. Info at www.coffeegallery.com. Reservations strongly suggested, at 626-798-6236 between 10 am and 10 pm."
Friday, May 12 — ELLEN STAPENHORST plays a 7:30 pm House Concert in Brentwood. Email her for details: estapenhorst@earthlink.net
Tuesday, May 16 — "Songwriters at Play" is a wonderful series on the Central Coast. Ellen plays the 6:30-9 pm show at Bang the Drum Brewery, 950 Orcutt Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA. She tells us, "I'll be one of several songwriters performing a short set of originals at this weekly event. Always a good evening! No cover." Info at: http://songwritersatplay.com/ or for those who have installed Facebook's spyware, there's info at: http://www.facebook.com/songwritersatplay
Wednesday, May 17 — Ellen plays the "Peaceful Point House Concert and Potluck," a 6 pm event sponsored by Unity-Five Cities, at 2850 Peaceful Point Lane, Arroyo Grande, CA. She reports it's "A beautiful setting for a sunset concert and potluck with congenial folks! Contact Chris Garey at 805-489-7359, chris@peacefulpoint.com for reservations and directions. Suggested donation $10-15."
Friday, May 19 — Ellen plays the "Monterey House Concert" series at 7:30 pm. She says, "This will be my third annual May house concert at this lovely, musical home overlooking Monterey Bay! Hosts Judy and Charlie have a wonderful space for music, camaraderie and dessert! Suggested donation $15." For information and directions, contact Judy at jhtherrien@icloud.com
Saturday, May 20 — Ellen plays a noon-2 pm set at the 4th annual "CORNER STORE WEST MOUNTAIN MUSIC FEST," on Whiffle Tree Ranch in Carmel Valley, 18865 Cachagua Rd, Carmel Valley, CA. The music continues all day, emceed by the inimitable JOE CRAVEN, and then more on Sunday. Ellen says, "I’m excited to be part of this, organized by the DC-based Corner Store Arts. For tickets and more information, visit www.cornerstorearts.org or call/text 202-255-2180."
Sunday, May 21 — Ellen is the musical guest at the Center for Spiritual Awakening in Pacific Grove, CA. She says it's "Special music for Sunday Service at 10 am, at 522 Central Av, Pacific Grove. For information about the Center, contact TheCSA.info@gmail.com or call 831-372-1942."
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# 6 news feature...
ERNEST TROOST's latest — an original and ironic "Make America Great Again"
There's no shortage of political satire, and some of it is musical. A little of it is good, and this is one of those.
Ernest Troost is best known in the Folk-Americana world as an L.A. bluesman who is the West Coast's chief practitioner of the "Piedmont blues" style. There's a whole lot more.
He has composed and produced two critically-praised albums of songs for JUDY COLLINS, setting the words to music of poets that include Robert Browning, Emily Dickinson, and Gertrude Stein.
He is also a recipient of the prestigious "Kerrville New Folk Award" for his original songwriting.
There's more. Ernest Troost is an Emmy award-winning composer of scores for films and television, including the cult-classic "Tremors" and HBO’s award-winning "Lesson Before Dying."
His latest album, "O LOVE," has been a hit with fans and critics alike.
His evocative style combines folk and Piedmont-blues-style guitar picking with timeless stories and colorful character portrayals drawn from the American past and present. Sometimes that features uhh, prominent personages from the American present. Like now.
We featured several live performances with him on-air on the gone-but-not-forgotten "Tied to the Tracks" broadcast radio show.
Ernest Troost gets plenty of good press.
"Troost is a brilliant Americana songwriter... making pensive, sometimes snarling, Steve Earle-ish, lyrically-driven Americana ... with inspired playing and smartly judicious arrangements. Fans of Steve Earle and Jeffrey Foucault will find an awful lot to like in Troost’s brooding, intense songcraft." — Delarue, New York Music Daily.
"Wow. ... Lyrically, he’s going to knock you flat with one punch. Killer stuff throughout, this is the work of an undeniable talent taking it to the next level of the game. You just might not hear Americana the same way again after you take a byte of this. Easily one of the best ‘folk’ albums to come out this year... Check it out." — Chris Spector, Midwest Record.
In addition, he plays gigs in venues large and small, always draws a crowd, and has an enthusiastic fan base. That's where you'll catch him playing plenty of what you came for, and lots of surprises.
Surprises like this one, the reason you're reading this feature.
Right now, online, you can catch L.A. bluesman ERNEST TROOST performing his original (and very ironic) "Make America Great Again." Enjoy:
https://soundcloud.com/ernest-troost/make-america-great-again-12
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# 7 news feature
FOR A CAJUN LANDMARK, IT'S ASHES TO ASHES, HALL-OF-FAME TO DUST
Even as Cajun, zydeco and Creole music is featured in a growing number of festivals in California, across America, and around the world, things in the music's Louisiana home country continue to struggle.
Oil development, beyond the infamous man-made "oil volcano" in the Gulf, is a betrothal to the devil. Big Oil sponsors local music and crawfish festivals in New Orleans, down into the few cities of the Mississippi Delta. Moreover, the region depends on the jobs. But between the deadly pollution of oil spills and petrochemical plants, the rich wildlife is all but gone.
Pumping oil from the ground in wetlands has caused the land itself to sink and succumb to inundation. Narrow natural channels have been widened for drilling equipment and pipeline supply barges through places that were once lush bayou. That destroys habitat and natural systems collapse. Along with the devastation of age-old natural wetlands, human settlements dating to before the American Revolution have sunk or been deserted as their fisheries vanished.
The quintessential Louisiana dance hall has been on the cultural endangered species list for years. Many places that once resounded with fiddle and accordion and happy shouts and songs in Cajun French have succumbed to abandonment and decay. On its home ground, it's all being forgotten. Even the place intended as a hall of fame and museum to preserve a record of the rich music and cultural past didn't escape the fate of so many vanished Louisiana music venues.
Dick Brainard reported this week to his Cajun-Zydeco dance audience, "Late news is that Miller’s Zydeco Hall of Fame (old Richard’s Club) in Lawtell (Louisiana) burned to the ground last week. It was a fire trap waiting for someone’s cigarette to do the job. Blessing (that) no one was inside... the windows were nailed shut."
There are no tears when all those Louisiana bands perform on the local festival scene. the joy of the music won't allow it. But some of those festivals have blues stages, and it's only a matter of time before you hear the sense of loss and lamentation there. See the following news feature to get your joy back.
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# 8 news feature
CAJUN-ZYDECO-CREOLE-BLUES FESTIVAL SEASON & CONCERTS IN SOUTHERN CAL
After the depressing news from Cajun country in the preceding story, let's get back in touch with the joy of Lou'siana music and dance. Here the upcoming Cajun-Zydeco-Creole-Blues festivals, and/or other festivals featuring Cajun music, PLUS some concerts, club gigs and the like that focus on Cajun music, JUST in Southern & Central California. They're date-chronological:
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✔ Fri, May 5: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS, 7 pm, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, Ca; phone For reservations, 626-798-6236. It's a rare West Coast appearance by "Old School" Creole musicians.
✔ Sat & Sun, May 5 & 6, 2017: "CENTRAL COAST FOLK FESTIVAL" is a new "Acoustic Folk & Jug Band Jubilee" at the Red Barn, 2180 Palisades Av, Baywood-Los Osos, CA, and features the HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND.
✔ May 6; 2017: 9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" is FREE and happens on several stages in South Pasadena, CA, and features Grammy noms LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS.
✔ Sat, May 6: JOE HALL & THE CANE CUTTERS play the 4 pm monthly concert series that includes dinner, and this time, dancing, at the Deep End Sessions, Santa Paula, CA 93060; reservations necessary at deependsessions@gmail.com
✔ A different LIVE BAND plays each time at the monthly Cajun-Zydeco Dance Series, every second Sunday, 4:30 pm, at the Golden Sails Hotel, 6285 Pacific Coast Hwy, Long Beach 90803.
✔ May 9, 2017: HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND plays a 10 pm set at The Escondite Bar, 410 Boyd St, Los Angeles 90013; no cover.
✔ May 11-14, 2017: 16th annual "GATOR BY THE BAY ZYDECO, BLUES & CRAWFISH FESTIVAL" at Spanish Landing Park in San Diego, CA, is obviously LOADED with cajun-zydeco-Creole and blues.
✔ May 13, 2017: BON TEMPS SOCIAL CLUB CAJUN & ZYDECO DANCERS do their monthly (second Saturday), 6:30-10:30 pm participatory event at the War Memorial Hall, Balboa Park, 3325 Zoo Dr, San Diego, CA.
✔ Sun, May 21, 2017: 57th annual "TOPANGA BANJO•FIDDLE CONTEST & FOLK FESTIVAL" at Paramount Ranch, 2903 Cornell Rd, Agoura Hills, CA. The many featured acts at this wonderful festival include the HIGH LIFE CAJUN BAND.
✔ Every 3rd Monday of the month, through this fall, there are CAJUN-ZYDECO DANCES with lessons at Tio Leo's, 5302 Napa St, San Diego, from 6-9:30 pm.
✔ May 27 & 28, 2017: (Sat & Sun of Memorial day Weekend) "SIMI VALLEY CAJUN & BLUES FESTIVAL," at Rancho Santa Susana Community Park, 5005 Los Angeles Av, Simi Valley, CA; yep, a reliably first-rate and endlessly tuneful event.
✔ Jun 17-18, 2017: 31st annual "LONG BEACH BAYOU" Zydeco, Blues, Creole & Cajun Festival at Rainbow Lagoon Events Park, Long Beach, CA; whether or not you get to the big fests in San Diego or Simi Valley, you need to be at this one. The lagoon is the perfect setting for all that great music.
✔ Aug 22, 2017: LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, Grammy noms, play the 6 pm memorial park Concert series sponsored bt Pasadena senior Center (all ages welcome) in Memorial Park, 85 E. Holly St, Pasadena, CA 91103; www.pasadenaseniorcenter.org/events/concerts-in-the-park
✔ Sep 2 & 3, 2017: 22nd annual "SEBASTOPOL CAJUN ZYDECO & DELTA RHYTHM FESTIVAL" in Sebastopol, CA. Up north, and looks good.
✔ Sep 9, 2017: LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, Grammy noms, play the 7:30 pm Olivas Adobe Concert Series, 4200 Olivas Park Dr, Ventura, CA 92002; www.cityofventura.net/mus
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For details on all these, PLUS many more Folk-Americana festivals, AND a whole lot more Cajun-zydeco-Creole-Lou'siana music fests, AND BLUES FESTIVALS — throughout the US, go lose yourself in the Guide's new
"ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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# 9 news feature...
NU-BLU, TOP BLUEGRASS STARS, RELEASE BRAND NEW ALBUM "VAGABONDS"
Available now on Voxhall Records or download on iTunes, Amazon, and other e-music sites; the latest single, "Still Small Voice," featuring Jimmy Fortune debuts its first week on the Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey.
Word came April 28 from Nashville that "The wait is over, as bluegrass/Americana group Nu-Blu releases their brand new album, 'Vagabonds.' The project is the band's sixth studio album."
The lead single, "Still Small Voice" featuring Country Music Hall of Fame singer Jimmy Fortune continues to turn heads since its release earlier this year, debuting last month on the "Bluegrass Unlimited National Bluegrass Survey" prior to the release of the album. The collection, released on the Voxhall Records label, is also available on iTunes and Amazon. As always, we encourage you to support your local record store to get a copy.
"We are happy to be able to present to our fans this collection of songs, straight from our heart," said Nu-Blu lead vocalist Carolyn Routh.
She continues, using a strategic pause to recognize fans as fellow travelers, saying, "It's even more exciting that 'Still Small Voice' debuted on this month's National Bluegrass Survey in Bluegrass Unlimited. Thank you all and we hope you enjoy, Vagabonds."
Nu-Blu is kicking their promotional efforts into high gear. The award-winning group stopped by the legendary broadcast home of the "Grand Ole Opry" since its earliest days, WSM 650AM studios. There, they performed songs from the new album on middle-Tennessee's hit program "Today in Nashville," for host Devon O'Day and the listening audience. Nu-Blu appeared as special guests last Sunday evening for "The Music Row Show," where they talked about the recording process and give listeners an inside glimpse of how the album was made.
There are no signs of slowing down any time soon, with upcoming features on the syndicated radio program "Whisky & Cigarettes," the TV show "Nashville Entertainment Weekly," and more.
Hailing from Siler City, NC, the textbook definition of a picturesque small southern town, Nu-Blu's heart and soul is husband-and-wife duo Daniel and Carolyn Routh. Carolyn's caramel-coated soprano is one of the band's defining traits, at times a tender lullaby, at times a freight train headed straight for you, but always unwinding a surprising tale. Daniel is the group's backbone, a multi-instrumentalist and vocalist who also handles band management. TJ Honaker on vocals and banjo, and Clint White on fiddle/mandolin round out the quartet's warm, layered, American roots sound. Together they deliver upbeat, blazing-fingers pick work just as well as gentle, heartwarming ballads, and they do it all with a natural togetherness that can't be faked, forged over hundreds of shows on the road.
Bonafide touring sensations, they are returning to the road for "The Vagabonds Tour," promising bluegrass fans an opportunity to meet the band and purchase a copy of the new album where their signing pens are at the ready.
Their summer concert and festival set list will feature a combination of fan favorites, covers, and cuts off of the new album that they have not previously performed live.
Fans can keep up with Nu-Blu's latest shows on their newly revamped website, www.Nu-Blu.com.
Here's the track list for Nu-Blu's new album, "Vagabonds":
1. The Bridges That You've Burned
2. A Lot More Love
3. Still Small Voice (featuring Jimmy Fortune & Ben Isaacs)
4. 640 Battlefield Drive
5. How Many Rivers
6. Troublemaker
7. Gypsies on Parade
8. A Fool and Her Heart
9. Surround Me With Love
10. Good Hearted Woman
11. Knockin' on Heaven's Door
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Nu-Blu's tour, "The Vagabonds" has the band playing the "ROUTE 66 BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" June 16 & 17 in Victorville, CA. Then they'll be awhile getting back to Southern Cal, playing the "SUMMERGRASS" festival, August 19 & 20 in San Diego County, plus gigs Aug. 25 for the San Diego Folk Heritage Concert series in Poway, and Aug. 27 in Escondido, at "Two Worlds Connect."
Both those festivals have major write-ups in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
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And there's sumpin' else that's too good that we've got to note for you.
They're playing the "SUSANVILLE BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL" in Northern Cal on June 23rd & June 25th — and playing hooky on June 24th to run off to Cumberland Gap, TN, to play the "WHITE LIGHTNING FESTIVAL."
And who says bluegrassers aren't rock stars?
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For readers elsewhere and summer travelers, here's Nu-Blu's full summer schedule:
May 5 - Wauseon, OH - McCance Cabin Concerts
May 6 - Howard City, MI - Zellie's Opry House
May 13 - Culpeper, VA - Peace, Love and Bluegrass
May 27 - Grafton, OH - Grafton Fair
Jun 9 - Valdese, NC - Family Friday Nights
Jun 13 - Tucson, AZ - The Big Bluegrass Show
Jun 16-17 - Victorville, CA - Route 66 Bluegrass Festival
Jun 23 - Susanville, CA - Susanville Bluegrass Festival
Jun 24 - Cumberland Gap, TN - White Lightning Festival
Jun 25 - Susanville, CA - Susanville Bluegrass Festival
Jul 15 - Selma, NC - Rudy Theater
Jul 22 - Ramseur, NC - Summer Concert Series
Jul 29 - Nashville, TN - WSM Midnite Jamboree
Aug 4 - Glenwood Springs, CO - Garfield County Fair
Aug 19-20 - San Diego, CA - Summergrass
Aug 25 - Poway, CA - San Diego Folk Heritage Concert
Aug 27 - Escondido, CA - Two Worlds Connect
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# 10 news feature...
NEW CD BY WORLD MUSIC STAR MEKLIT FEATURES ANDREW BIRD ON VIOLIN AND THE PRESERVATION HALL JAZZ BAND
It's being called "A vibrant and inspired mix of Ethio-Jazz roots along with American pop, R&B and folk influences."
The Guide rarely ventures into anything nominally categorized as "world music." Wait'll you see why we're making an exception.
Since the release of her acclaimed 2010 debut album "On A Day Like This…" (Porto Franco Records), Meklit has become an international force.
Both a 2009 TED "Global Fellow" and a 2012 "Senior Fellow," you need to watch her stunningly wonderful, very articulate 2015 TED talk. It's a delightful integration of music theory, titled, "The Unexpected Beauty of Everyday Sounds." It's at:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAkkckxE9i8
Co-founder of both the "Nile Project" and the "Arba Minch Collective," Meklit has been a featured voice in the "UN Women" theme song "One Women," collaborated with musical legend Pee Wee Ellis. She's been commissioned to write music by Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, served as an artist-in-residence at NYU, led multiple creative residencies in Manchester with the arts powerhouse "Brighter Sound," inaugurated the "UN Campaign for Gender Equality in Africa" with a concert in Addis Ababa, and she sits on the board of "Yerba Buena Center for the Arts."
Ethiopian-American artist Meklit has shared a new video for her single "I Want to Sing For Them All". The jubilant video, first released at Vibe dot com, is on YouTube, at:
https://youtu.be/MwDrcvGTODs
There are some interesting African instruments, including one with a double neck, and of course the horns are very good.
Vibe describes it as "a beautiful medley of lush and rich sounds from the African diaspora that inspired the song."
The track also features Andrew Bird on violin. Meklit adds, "'I Want To Sing For Them All' is my anthem... I am an immigrant... This music is Ethio-American, just like me."
The song is on her soon-to-be-released new album "When the People Move, the Music Moves Too" coming June 23rd on Six Degrees Records. Already building buzz, the album was teased by "New York Magazine" in their "Approval Matrix" feature, earning a coveted spot on the "Brilliant" end of the spectrum. The record was produced by Dan Wilson, whose previous work with artists including Adele, Taylor Swift and John Legend — as well as fronting the band Semisonic — has earned multiple Grammy awards.
The album also includes Andrew Bird on violin and whistling, as well as New Orleans' Preservation Hall Jazz Band horns.
Music promoter Justin Schmidt says, "Meklit's upcoming record crosses both musical and generational borders to create a unified artistic vision, united behind her unique and unmistakable voice."
"When the People Move, the Music Moves Too" is the result of a fateful encounter Meklit experienced in Addis Ababa with the legendary vibraphonist/composer Mulatu Astatke, who helped spark Ethiopia’s 1960s musical renaissance. She was deeply engaged with his music at the time, but he pushed her to think about how to bring her own experiences into her songs.
“He was very pointed with me, saying several times ‘You keep innovating!’” she recalls. “He took me to task and he tasked me. It took me a while to digest that. It’s a big thing to have someone like that say that to you. I sat with it for a couple of years.”
Meklit has embodied multiplicity since she first started performing at San Francisco’s Red Poppy Art House in the mid-2000s. Born in Ethiopia, she moved with her family to Iowa at the age of two, and spent much of her adolescence in Brooklyn, soaking up the sounds of hip hop on the street. After studying political science at Yale she spent several years in Seattle before moving to San Francisco, looking to immerse herself in the city’s thriving arts scene.
“I’m always thinking about America and Ethiopia, about how the hybridization is going to work in both places," she observes.
The lapidary orchestrations on her new record were created by Meklit herself, with the help of her bassist, Sam Bevan.
But Meklit is quick to credit Dan Wilson’s lithe musical mind with a major role in shaping the ultimate sound of the record, in addition to his contribution of co-writing two songs. She describes Wilson’s "songwriting precision, and razor sharp, generous feedback" that "helped to weave a remarkable clarity into the music," enhancing Meklit’s already vivid hues. A prolific songwriter, arranger and producer, Wilson "seemed to know exactly which player to place where" to accentuate Meklit’s sound.
Justin Schmidt says, Wilson brought-in Ethio-Cali’s tenor saxophonist Randall Fisher, who plays a perfectly calibrated Ethio-jazz intro on “You Got Me.” And Ethiopian-born, L.A.-based keyboardist Kibrome Birhane’s spare piano work levitates “Yesterday is a Tizita.”
There's more in the Vibe feature, at: http://www.vibe.com/2017/05/premiere-meklit-i-want-to-sing-for-them-all/
Here's the album track list for the upcoming
"When the People Move, the Music Moves Too":
1. This Was Made Here
2. I Want To Sing For Them All (featuring Andrew Bird)
3. Supernova
4. You Are My Luck (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
5. Yerakeh Yeresal (featuring Andrew Bird)
6. You Got Me (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
7. Yesterday Is A Tizita
8. Human Animal
9. Sweet Or Salty
10. Birthday Song (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
11. Memories Of The Future (featuring Preservation Hall Horns)
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# 11 news feature...
NEW RELEASES OF GREAT OLD MATERIAL: THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND, KRIS KRISTOFFERSON, THE DOORS
Re-released and repackaged classic albums that add tracks without deleting any of the original material always excite. When the added material includes unreleased songs, mastered to state-of-the-art standards, it's time to celebrate. You'll find examples of all that in the trio of albums here. Surely these are the ones you want in the car for the drive to the next festival.
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"FISHIN' IN THE DARK: THE BEST OF THE NITTY GRITTY DIRT BAND" released Feb 24, 2017, on Rhino Records.
It's a 21-track record available as a CD ($14.98) or download from ITunes or Amazon.
Here are the tracks, all performed by the Dirt Band:
1. Mr. Bojangles
2. Ripplin' Waters
3. An American Dream
4. Make a Little Magic
5. Fire In The Sky
6. Dance Little Jean (2001 Digital Remaster)
7. Long Hard Road (The Sharecropper's Dream)
8. High Horse
9. Modern Day Romance
10. Partners, Brothers And Friends
11. Stand A Little Rain
12. Cadillac Ranch
13. I've Been Lookin'
14. Oh What A Love
15. Workin' Man [Nowhere To Go]
16. I Love Only You
17. Fishin' In The Dark
18. Baby's Got A Hold On Me
19. Face On The Cutting Room Floor
20. Down That Road Tonight
21. Home Again In My Heart
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/fishin-in-the-dark-the-best-of-the-nitty-gritty-dirt-band?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-FishinInDarkBes-MoreInfo-right-more-5&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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KRIS KRISTOFFERSON — "THE AUSTIN SESSIONS (EXPANDED EDITION)" released Feb 10, 2017, on Rhino Records.
First, there's what was left off the original album. "Best Of All Possible Worlds" and "Jody And The Kid" make their debut on the expanded version. Fred Mollin says the songs show different sides of Kristofferson' songwriting. He should know. Mollin produced the original album, and he tells the story behind the sessions in the collection's liner notes. Of the two added songs, he says, "One is lighthearted, dry, sarcastic and one of the greatest examples of Kris' humor and storytelling, while the other is just deeply emotional and shows the true aching heart that can be felt like an arrow, from Kris to the listener."
In the summer of 1997, Kris Kristofferson spent a few days in Texas recording stripped-down versions of his best-known songs. Released by Atlantic Records in 1999, The Austin Sessions pairs the acclaimed outlaw country songwriter with a band of studio aces and guest harmony vocalists for intimate versions of classics like "Me and Bobby McGee," "Why Me?" and "Sunday Morning Coming Down."
Rhino Records celebrates these powerful recordings with an expanded version of the album that features remastered sound and includes those two unreleased session outtakes. In addition to Mollin's new liner notes, the new package features several unpublished photos from the time.
Kristofferson recorded The Austin Sessions at Arlyn Studios in Texas with a group of session veterans from Los Angeles and Nashville who were hand-picked by Mollin, who also plays acoustic guitar on the album. Kristofferson's longtime touring guitarist Stephen Bruton appears on several songs as well.
Mollin recalls: "I knew in my heart that I could pull off a great under-produced production and give Kris the album he always wanted to make: one that felt like it had the uniqueness and rootsy feeling that Dylan accomplished on his early electric albums." Several guests join Kristofferson on the album, including Jackson Browne ("Me And Bobby McGee"), Steve Earle ("Sunday Morning Coming Down"), Vince Gill ("Help Me Make It Through The Night"), Catie Curtis ("Nobody Wins"), and Mark Knopfler ("Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends").
It's a 14-track record, available as a CD ($14.98), on vinyl ($21.98), or download from ITunes or Amazon.
Here are the track listings, all performed by Kristofferson.
1. Me And Bobby McGee (Remastered)
2. Sunday Morning Coming Down (Remastered)
3. For The Good Times (Remastered)
4. The Silver Tongued Devil And I (Remastered)
5. Help Me Make It Through The Night (Remastered)
6. Loving Her Was Easier (Than Anything I'll Ever Do Again) [Remastered]
7. To Beat The Devil (Remastered)
8. Who's To Bless And Who's To Blame (Remastered)
9. Why Me (Remastered)
10. Nobody Wins (Remastered)
11. The Pilgrim: Chapter 33 (Remastered)
12. Please Don't Tell Me How The Story Ends (Remastered)
13. Best Of All Possible Worlds
14. Jody And The Kid
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/the-austin-sessions-expanded-edition?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-KrisKristoffers-right-image-6&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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"THE DOORS 50th ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION" released March 31, 2017, is a 3 CD/LP set with 41 tracks, packaged in a 12" x 12" hardcover book ($64.98, inclusive), on Rhino Records.
We're not suggesting that all '60s classic rock needs to be embraced as Americana, but a whole lot has successfully migrated and found not just public acceptance, but joyful acclaim among Folk-Americana audiences when they hear it. Take some individual tracks from the Doors catalogue, and you've been hearing covers of them for years from folkies performing in concert. Besides, there is great energy in the original recordings and performances — if admittedly dark at times — and without a doubt, there's originality here not found in much of today's music.
That, and there's Jim Morrison's vocals. Revolutionary in their time — against a backdrop of radio's jangly Top-40 of "She Loves me, Yeah, Yeah, Yeah," and surf music — what ballad singer who thoroughly engages an audience in our time does not channel a bit of Morrison?
This package of recordings and a book has many things that make it special. For one, the third disc features a 1967 live performance from The Matrix in San Francisco recorded just weeks after their debut album, "The Doors," was released.
Packaged in a 12 x 12 hardcover book, THE DOORS: 50TH ANNIVERSARY DELUXE EDITION includes a remastered version of the album’s original stereo mix, available on CD for the first time in a decade and remastered for the first time in nearly 30 years. The album’s original mono mix was also remastered for this set and is making its CD debut here. An LP-version of the mono mix is also included.
Music journalist David Fricke provides detailed liner notes for the set, which includes a selection of rare and previously unseen photographs.
This album offers a rare opportunity to hear the band on the verge of superstardom with live performances recorded during that March 7, 1967 show at the Matrix in San Francisco. The Matrix recordings heard on this deluxe edition were sourced from the recently discovered original tapes, previously thought to be lost. You should note that the Matrix recordings originally released in 2008 were from a third-generation source, so the sound quality of the versions debuting here is second to none.
Packed with electrifying performances, the disc contains live versions of eight of the tracks prom their classic studio album, "The Doors," including “Twentieth Century Fox,” “The Crystal Ship” and “Back Door Man.”
Here's the track list:
1. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Remastered]
2. Soul Kitchen (Remastered)
3. The Crystal Ship (Remastered)
4. Twentieth Century Fox (Remastered)
5. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Remastered]
6. Light My Fire (Remastered)
7. Back Door Man (Remastered)
8. I Looked At You (Remastered)
9. End Of The Night (Remastered)
10. Take It As It Comes (Remastered)
11. The End (Remastered)
12. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Mono] [Remastered]
13. Soul Kitchen (Mono) [Remastered]
14. The Crystal Ship (Mono) [Remastered]
15. Twentieth Century Fox (Mono) [Remastered]
16. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Mono] [Remastered]
17. Light My Fire (Mono) [Remastered]
18. Back Door Man (Mono) [Remastered]
19. I Looked At You (Mono) [Remastered]
20. End Of The Night (Mono) [Remastered]
21. Take It As It Comes (Mono) [Remastered]
22. The End (Mono) [Remastered]
23. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967]
24. Soul Kitchen (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
25. The Crystal Ship (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
26. Twentieth Century Fox (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
27. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967]
28. Light My Fire (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
29. Back Door Man (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
30. The End (Live at Matrix, 3/7/1967)
31. Break On Through (To The Other Side) [Mono]
32. Soul Kitchen (Mono)
33. The Crystal Ship (Mono)
34. Twentieth Century Fox (Mono)
35. Alabama Song (Whisky Bar) [Mono]
36. Light My Fire (Mono)
37. Back Door Man (Mono)
38. I Looked At You (Mono)
39. End Of The Night (Mono)
40. Take It As It Comes (Mono)
41. The End (Mono)
Support your local record store, order online, direct from Rhino:
http://www.rhino.com/product/the-doors-deluxe-edition3cd1lp?cmpid=rn/2017April28/NewReleases-DoorsDoors50thA-product-detail-title-1&eml=2017April28/3965089/6134371&etsubid=39474476
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ADDED NOTE: For Doors fans, one of the recent (10th annual) "RECORD STORE DAY," one of Rhino's special releases was this:
"THE DOORS - LIVE AT THE MATRIX '67" - 12-inch, 180-gram vinyl, individually numbered, in a limited edition of 10,000 copies.
If you can still find one at your favorite store, it goes for just $21.98.
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Other Record Store Day special releases that may still be out there, ONLY in record stores:
"GRATEFUL DEAD - P.N.E. GARDEN AUDITORIUM, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA, 7/29/66" - 2-LP set on 180-gram vinyl, limited edition of 6,600 copies, $29.98.
"STEVIE NICKS - RARITIES 1981 - 1983" - 12-inch EP, limited edition of 7,500 copies, $14.98.
"VARIOUS ARTISTS - NUGGETS: COME TO THE SUNSHINE (Soft Pop Nuggets From The WEA Vaults)" - 2-LP on 180-gram orange and yellow marble vinyl, limited edition of 5,500 copies, $31.98.
"ANNI-FRID LYNGSTAD - FRIDA" - 12-inch 180-gram vinyl, limited edition of 3,000 copies, $21.98.
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The Guide celebrated the annual "Record Store Day" in a recent full news edition, at: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-music-news-lotsa-great-stuff.html
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# 12 news feature...
"WILLIE NELSON’S LUCK REUNION" 2017 INCLUDED SOUTHERN CAL'S THE WILD REEDS
The full scope of things is covered in a feature story by Jeremy Burchard in "4 days." (Link below.) Here are some key excerpts:
This year’s lineup for Willie Nelson’s Luck Reunion concert event certainly packed a punch. On March 16, Margo Price, Conor Oberst and more treked to Nelson’s ranch for a day of seriously cool vibes.
The Wild Reeds — a great young Southern Cal band — joined Willie’s son Lukas Nelson and his band the Promise of the Real; Parker Millsap; Aaron Lee Tasjan; Big Thief; Brent Cobb; Lillie Mae; Insects vs Robots; Paul Thorn with the McCrary Sisters; Valley Queen; Devon Gilfillian; Bee Caves; and the National Reserve.
The event coincided with Austin’s South by Southwest festival. But if you weren't at SXSW, you can still access the feel of the Luck Reunion 2017 through Burchard's full story. He says, "...the whole getaway seemed like a nice break from an otherwise chaotic scene taking over Austin all throughout mid-March."
Read his complete story at:
www.wideopencountry.com/luck-reunion-2017-lineup/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Read%20more&utm_campaign=This%20Week%3A%201/20/17
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#13 news feature...
BROAD STAGE WINS OVATION AWARD FOR "1984" AS "BEST PRESENTED PRODUCTION OF 2016"
The Ovation Award, as the L.A. Times acknowledges, is the "highest-profile contest for local theatre." At the 27th annual L.A. STAGE ALLIANCE OVATION AWARDS, the Eli and Edythe Broad Stage in Santa Monica won the "Best Presented Production" category for its staging of Headlong Theatre's "1984" by George Orwell. the play is a new adaptation created by Robert Icke and Duncan Macmillan.
The award comes as Orwell's 1949 novel, "1984," has enjoyed a resurgence to the top of Bestseller lists.
"We could not be more thrilled to receive this honor," said Jane Deknatel, Executive Director of The Broad Stage. "'1984' was arguably the most visceral piece of theater we have presented in the nine year history of the organization. We are proud of the work we do, and we look forward to seeing our theater community grow and prosper."
"1984" launched its American Tour at The Broad Stage and ran January 8 - February 6, 2016. The production from Britain's Headlong Theatre Company, directed by Jeremy Herrin, used technical effects to create a sensory-overload visceral experience, keeping the audience disturbingly complicit. The Los Angeles Times said of 1984, "[The] theatrical imagination of this British import brings the tale shockingly to life onstage."
Founded in 1989, the Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Voters are LA theatre professionals who are chosen each year, through an application process, by the Ovation Rules Committee.
The Broad Stage at the Santa Monica College Performing Arts Center, 1310 11th St., Santa Monica, CA 90401; 310-434-3200; www.thebroadstage.com
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# 14 news feature...
MARITIME MUSIC / SEA CHANTEYS FESTIVALS & NEWS
It's tough to find a sea chantey (shanty) sing in Southern California. The best known one is aboard the old wood tall ship "Star of India" dockside in San Diego in July, and it's a full-blown festival. There are chantey sings aboard the Battleship Iowa and at the Whale and Ale restaurant, both in San Pedro, on an irregular basis. And we are especially fortunate to have the Ocean Institute in Costa Mesa, where the annual "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" has music on multiple stages and aboard half a dozen tall ships (the monicker for large sailing vessels with multiple tall masts that hold their sails).
The 25th annual "SEA CHANTEY FESTIVAL" aboard the "Star of India" happens Sunday, August, 13, 2017, on board ship at 1306 N Harbor Dr, San Diego, CA. It's sponsored by the Maritime Museum of San Diego, along with San Diego Folk Heritage.
The annual "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" is September 8-10, 2017, at the Ocean Institute, 24200 Dana Point Harbor Dr, Dana Point, CA 92629.
Full info on both, and many other maritime music festivals, are in the Guide's "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
Other Pacific coastal cities have salt-saturated tuneful culture happening all the time, and May has some fine offerings. The festivals among them are described in detail at the above link.
Beyond the festivals, there are additional things you can include in your summer travels.
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The "STORIES OF THE SEA" contest at the Highliner Pub in Seattle happens May 11. As always, there are frequent chantey sings in Port Townsend and Seattle, and more.
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The "MAKING THE CUT" CD, with winners of the recent maritime songwriting contest, is now being recorded and will be released on July 22 with a CD release concert at the Ballard Locks. Those are the locks that raise or lower boats and ships between the Pacific Ocean and freshwater Lake Washington, in Seattle. Same thing as the Panama Canal on a smaller scale. Songs on the new album are written around the theme of the centennial of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and Ballard Locks.
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Some of the contest winners will be performing their songs at a special concert at the annual "NORTHWEST FOLKLIFE FESTIVAL," one of the largest free acoustic music events in America. It happens in the hugeness of Seattle Center, the preserved World's Fair site. That particular concert is May 28, 3-4 pm, on the Folklife Café stage.
The Guide's gigantic "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" has details on NW Folklife, on the local "TALL SHIPS FESTIVAL" and "SEA CHANTEY FESTIVAL" and literally hundreds of other 2017 Folk-Americana and acoustic music festivals.
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If you're into the music and looking for new releases?
MARY GARVEY will have a new CD out at the Northwest Folklife Festival. It will be called "Codfish in the Spring of the Year" and will feature some local and national favorite musicians, and songs from Basque Country, Alaska, New England, Newfoundland, Acadia, Poland, and Sweden. It will sell for $10 with cover, and $5 without.
We can report a bit more on the maritime arts community. Wendy Joseph will have a poem published in the "Along the Shore" anthology, an international poetic celebration of the sea from Lost Tower Publications.
___
For help with finding things?
Alice Winship is our longtime source of Northwest maritime music news. If you're headed to anyplace by the sea in the Pacific Northwest, from Portland-ia north — especially anywhere in or around Seattle and Puget Sound — contact Alice to learn about concerts or events while you're there.
Tell her we sent you.
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TWO of the MOST RECENT "Music News" editions of the Guide contain things you need to know:
"Remembering BILL BRYSON, bluegrass musician extraordinaire" is the May 3rd special edition, at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/05/remembering-bill-bryson-bluegrass.html
___
We report the sad news about JIMMY LaFAVE being diagnosed with terminal cancer, received from Slaid Cleaves and his wife, Karen. It's an up-top feature, added when the news arrived. Plus, that April 21st edition ran with more six music news stories. It's at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/weekend-music-news-lotsa-great-stuff.html
________________________________
MUCH, MUCH MORE is coming soon — that includes MUSIC NEWS and our massive guide to the Spring-through Fall Music Festivals:
Both the LOCAL and NATIONAL Folk-Americana MUSIC FESTIVAL scene !
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LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...
Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox?
What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
________________________________
Direct to the Guide's current editions /
MOBILE-DEVICE-FRIENDLY
editions.... all load quickly at
.
www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com
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CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
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Contents copyright © 2017,
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. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds 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 bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
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"BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" 2017, May 5-7, all the details
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Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" 2017.
May 5-7, 2017:
2nd annual "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" in Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91350; https://www.bbqandbeerfestival.com
✔ TIX: $10-$40, based on the events of the day.
✔ THE SCENE: Three days of BBQ, handcrafted beer tastings, live entertainment, and kids activities. Sunday is "Blues, Brews And BBQ" noon-6 pm. Before that, Friday is the "Beer Festival" 5:30-9:30 pm, and Saturday is the "BBQ Festival" noon-8 pm.
* THE LINEUP:
(Sunday:)
♪ Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
♪ Jack Mack & the Heart Attack
and more
.
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CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" 2017.
May 5-7, 2017:
2nd annual "BBQ & BEER FESTIVAL" in Central Park, 27150 Bouquet Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91350; https://www.bbqandbeerfestival.com
✔ TIX: $10-$40, based on the events of the day.
✔ THE SCENE: Three days of BBQ, handcrafted beer tastings, live entertainment, and kids activities. Sunday is "Blues, Brews And BBQ" noon-6 pm. Before that, Friday is the "Beer Festival" 5:30-9:30 pm, and Saturday is the "BBQ Festival" noon-8 pm.
* THE LINEUP:
(Sunday:)
♪ Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
♪ Jack Mack & the Heart Attack
and more
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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"WILD WEST DAY" 2017, May 6, all the details
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Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "WILD WEST DAY" 2017.
May 6, 2017:
"WILD WEST DAY" at the L.A. Co. Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Av, Arcadia, CA 91007; 626-821-3222; www.arboretum.org/events/wild-west-day
✔ TIX: Adults $9; Students with ID & and Seniors age 62 and older, $6; Children ages 5-12 $4; Children under age 5 are free. The festival is included with arboretum admission; there are fees for some activities.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: They recommend "cowboy and cowgirl attire." This one-day fest, 10 am-4 pm, features Western music, stage coach rides, a western BBQ, children's activities, living history demonstrations of blacksmithing, telegraph communications, weaving, and more. There are Queen Anne Cottage tours (the house from TV's "Fantasy Island") and Rose garden tours. Special festival exhibits include operating calliopes, cowboy artifacts, and Victorian clothing. There are open house activities in the old Santa Fe Ry santa Anita Depot and the coach barn. Children can pan for gold, do roping and play horseshoes, learn ranch crafts and telegram writing.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ The Shadow Mountain Band
♪ Calliopes (steam-powered musical instruments)
♪ Christy Lewis (roping demonstrations)
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
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CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
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.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "WILD WEST DAY" 2017.
May 6, 2017:
"WILD WEST DAY" at the L.A. Co. Arboretum, 301 N Baldwin Av, Arcadia, CA 91007; 626-821-3222; www.arboretum.org/events/wild-west-day
✔ TIX: Adults $9; Students with ID & and Seniors age 62 and older, $6; Children ages 5-12 $4; Children under age 5 are free. The festival is included with arboretum admission; there are fees for some activities.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: They recommend "cowboy and cowgirl attire." This one-day fest, 10 am-4 pm, features Western music, stage coach rides, a western BBQ, children's activities, living history demonstrations of blacksmithing, telegraph communications, weaving, and more. There are Queen Anne Cottage tours (the house from TV's "Fantasy Island") and Rose garden tours. Special festival exhibits include operating calliopes, cowboy artifacts, and Victorian clothing. There are open house activities in the old Santa Fe Ry santa Anita Depot and the coach barn. Children can pan for gold, do roping and play horseshoes, learn ranch crafts and telegram writing.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ The Shadow Mountain Band
♪ Calliopes (steam-powered musical instruments)
♪ Christy Lewis (roping demonstrations)
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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"SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" 2017, May 6 & 7, all the details
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Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" in Memorial Park, 222 W Sierra Madre Bl, Sierra Madre, CA; 626-843-1117; http://sierramadrelibraryfriends.org/the-55th-annual-sierra-madre-art-fair-may-6-7-2017
✔ TIX: It's free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Live Americana and Celtic music are featured throughout the weekend in the park's permanent band shell and on the southeast lawn. Food vendors offer a variety of food and drinks and there's a Wine & Beer Garden. For children, instructors from the Creative Arts Group have planned a special craft activity, making flower bouquets with different colors and shapes of paper. The heart of the art fair: "85 artists, including 12 newly juried, will display and sell their works of art. Mediums include oil paintings, jewelry, watercolors, glass, wood, metal, wearable art, photography, pottery, ceramics, mixed media and weaving. The Art Fair will be the perfect place to buy Mom that wonderful Mother’s Day gift or to buy upcoming graduation and wedding gifts, as well as to purchase pieces for your own enjoyment." All Proceeds from the Art Fair benefit the Sierra Madre Public Library.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
(Sat:)
♪ David Garcia Latin Band
♪ Natalie Clark, music from Scotland
♪ Luckpenny, Irish music
♪ Evan Marshall, mandolin maestro
- - - -
(Sun:)
♪ Steve Trovato and Tim Kobza, guitars and vocals
♪ Severin Browne and Friends, original songs and Americana
♪ Banna Beag Mall, Irish music
♪ Jean Sudbury, playing "an eclectic display of Continental music"
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
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CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
55th annual "SIERRA MADRE ART FAIR" in Memorial Park, 222 W Sierra Madre Bl, Sierra Madre, CA; 626-843-1117; http://sierramadrelibraryfriends.org/the-55th-annual-sierra-madre-art-fair-may-6-7-2017
✔ TIX: It's free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Live Americana and Celtic music are featured throughout the weekend in the park's permanent band shell and on the southeast lawn. Food vendors offer a variety of food and drinks and there's a Wine & Beer Garden. For children, instructors from the Creative Arts Group have planned a special craft activity, making flower bouquets with different colors and shapes of paper. The heart of the art fair: "85 artists, including 12 newly juried, will display and sell their works of art. Mediums include oil paintings, jewelry, watercolors, glass, wood, metal, wearable art, photography, pottery, ceramics, mixed media and weaving. The Art Fair will be the perfect place to buy Mom that wonderful Mother’s Day gift or to buy upcoming graduation and wedding gifts, as well as to purchase pieces for your own enjoyment." All Proceeds from the Art Fair benefit the Sierra Madre Public Library.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
(Sat:)
♪ David Garcia Latin Band
♪ Natalie Clark, music from Scotland
♪ Luckpenny, Irish music
♪ Evan Marshall, mandolin maestro
- - - -
(Sun:)
♪ Steve Trovato and Tim Kobza, guitars and vocals
♪ Severin Browne and Friends, original songs and Americana
♪ Banna Beag Mall, Irish music
♪ Jean Sudbury, playing "an eclectic display of Continental music"
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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"FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" 2017, May 6 & 7, all the details
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Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" festival at the Fullerton Transportation Center (Amtrak's old Santa Fe Ry station), 120 E Santa Fe Av, Fullerton, CA 92832; http://fullertontrainmuseum.org/railroad-days
✔ TIX: It's Free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: The real star this year at the two-day, 9 am-5 pm festival, is the appearance of a large, operating steam locomotive: former Santa Fe 4-8-4 "Northern" type, number 3751. There are historic and model train displays, lots of food options, and more. Amtrak is sending commemorative "Veterans Locomotives;" BNSF® Railway will have cab tours of a modern diesel locomotive; Metrolink will display commuter train equipment; Disneyland is sending the "Cyrus K. Holliday" steam locomotive # 1 that pulled trainloads of visitors around the park for decades; "Carolwood Foundation / Walt's Barn" will display large scale rail cars from Walt Disney's own railroad that he ran on his estate; SCRPA will display three vintage cabooses, one each from the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, and two 1949 Union Pacific passenger train lounge cars. The official promo says, "For the 18th year, the Southern California Railway Plaza Association (SCRPA) is producing their free community event honoring the region’s historic connections to railroads. Volunteers and sponsors are coming together to create another fantastic weekend for families and rail fans of all ages. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever with a fantastic lineup of featured participants, model train layouts, vendors and community groups. The excitement is increasing as the event draws near."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
Not yet announced at press time (early April, 2017).
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
18th annual "FULLERTON RAILROAD DAYS" festival at the Fullerton Transportation Center (Amtrak's old Santa Fe Ry station), 120 E Santa Fe Av, Fullerton, CA 92832; http://fullertontrainmuseum.org/railroad-days
✔ TIX: It's Free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: The real star this year at the two-day, 9 am-5 pm festival, is the appearance of a large, operating steam locomotive: former Santa Fe 4-8-4 "Northern" type, number 3751. There are historic and model train displays, lots of food options, and more. Amtrak is sending commemorative "Veterans Locomotives;" BNSF® Railway will have cab tours of a modern diesel locomotive; Metrolink will display commuter train equipment; Disneyland is sending the "Cyrus K. Holliday" steam locomotive # 1 that pulled trainloads of visitors around the park for decades; "Carolwood Foundation / Walt's Barn" will display large scale rail cars from Walt Disney's own railroad that he ran on his estate; SCRPA will display three vintage cabooses, one each from the Santa Fe, Southern Pacific and Union Pacific, and two 1949 Union Pacific passenger train lounge cars. The official promo says, "For the 18th year, the Southern California Railway Plaza Association (SCRPA) is producing their free community event honoring the region’s historic connections to railroads. Volunteers and sponsors are coming together to create another fantastic weekend for families and rail fans of all ages. This year promises to be bigger and better than ever with a fantastic lineup of featured participants, model train layouts, vendors and community groups. The excitement is increasing as the event draws near."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
Not yet announced at press time (early April, 2017).
.
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.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
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"RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" 2017, May 6 & 7, all the details
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Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
5th annual "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" at the Ramona Rodeo Grounds, 421 Aqua Ln, Ramona CA 92065; www.ramonaoldwestdays.com/showdown-at-sundown
✔ NOTE: This year, the "RAMONA BLUEGRASS AND OLD WEST FESTIVAL" is not concurrent; it has moved from May to Aug 28 and happens as part of the 47th annual "RAMONA COUNTRY FAIR" (Aug 24-27); see both those listings.
✔ TIX: Not specified on their website.
✔ CAMPING: Contact them.
✔ THE SCENE: Lots of changes in 2017. The Reenactment Guild of America and the Julian, CA-based Guns of the Round Table "have invited the best of the best gunfighter reenactment groups, from all over the nation, to Ramona for this exciting competition, the 'Showdown at Sundown.'" The other major component is the "Rendezvous Encampments" featuring living history reenactment groups "presenting authentic 1800s period open encampments demonstrating life during America’s Western Expansion." That includes pioneer skills or dramatic scenes of pioneer life," like "laundry, ax-throwing, campfire cooking, whip skills, roping, butter churning, apple peeling as well as period toys and games, such as tug-o-war." Plus, "Rendezvous Encampments guests can enjoy authentic Mexican food while exploring our 'Period Peddler' shops, where merchants offer only goods that would be available in the period of the 1800s Western Expansion."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ There are story teller historians.
♪ Musicians are not yet announced by press time (late April, 2017).
♪ Past events have included pioneer and westward expansion music on traditional instruments.
♪ With the changes being made? Contact them. You might get invited to perform your trad music repertoire.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" 2017.
May 6 & 7, 2017:
5th annual "RAMONA OLD WEST DAYS" at the Ramona Rodeo Grounds, 421 Aqua Ln, Ramona CA 92065; www.ramonaoldwestdays.com/showdown-at-sundown
✔ NOTE: This year, the "RAMONA BLUEGRASS AND OLD WEST FESTIVAL" is not concurrent; it has moved from May to Aug 28 and happens as part of the 47th annual "RAMONA COUNTRY FAIR" (Aug 24-27); see both those listings.
✔ TIX: Not specified on their website.
✔ CAMPING: Contact them.
✔ THE SCENE: Lots of changes in 2017. The Reenactment Guild of America and the Julian, CA-based Guns of the Round Table "have invited the best of the best gunfighter reenactment groups, from all over the nation, to Ramona for this exciting competition, the 'Showdown at Sundown.'" The other major component is the "Rendezvous Encampments" featuring living history reenactment groups "presenting authentic 1800s period open encampments demonstrating life during America’s Western Expansion." That includes pioneer skills or dramatic scenes of pioneer life," like "laundry, ax-throwing, campfire cooking, whip skills, roping, butter churning, apple peeling as well as period toys and games, such as tug-o-war." Plus, "Rendezvous Encampments guests can enjoy authentic Mexican food while exploring our 'Period Peddler' shops, where merchants offer only goods that would be available in the period of the 1800s Western Expansion."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ There are story teller historians.
♪ Musicians are not yet announced by press time (late April, 2017).
♪ Past events have included pioneer and westward expansion music on traditional instruments.
♪ With the changes being made? Contact them. You might get invited to perform your trad music repertoire.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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"STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" 2017, May 6, all the details
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.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" 2017.
May 6, 2017:
"STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Bl, Beverly Hills, CA 90211; 888-645-5006; http://sabanconcerts.com/events/straight-to-the-heart
✔ TIX: available online or by phone; $58 / $85 / $97 / $150 + applicable fees. Under 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult. VIP parking available at 888-645-5006.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Doors 6 pm. show 8 pm. A one-night extravaganza with many artists in a theatre-concert format.
✔ 2017 LINEUP: "Few things lift the spirit like the sound of phenomenally talented young singers delivering songs directly from the heart, full of promise, hope and optimism. That is precisely what the eight principal singers in 'Straight To The Heart' bring to concert audiences. Coming from a variety of national, ethnic and religious backgrounds, these young prodigies combine their diverse talents in a show that spans inspired original compositions and inventive arrangements of a cross-genre presentation of music. Featured artist Ty Waters is an 11-year old Canadian with the voice of an angel and charisma to rival the young Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson. The show also showcases seven other performers. Lebanese American pianist and singer Christen Ntanios a Lebanese-American protégé and member of the 'Ultimate Vocal Summit Elite' team. There are singer-songwriters Lane Hardy and Celeste Butler; singer and actress Hailey Faith; rock lyricist and vocalist Izzy Jones; and Canadian pop and R&B singer-songwriter Connor Nelson. The show opens with 4 ½ year old Abrielle Cummings performing The Carpenters’ 'Sing A Song.' Though newcomers to the national U.S. Scene, these artists have all garnered prizes, praise and renown in their communities, and are plainly destined for significant careers." Accomplished recording artist Bob Malone performs piano and keyboards for the cast. Bob says, "I'll be leading an all-star band including my John Fogerty bandmate Kenny Aronoff, Tariqh Akoni (Josh Groban) and Paul Hefti (Hefti plays Hefti)."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ Ty Waters
♪ Christen Ntanios
♪ Lane Hardy
♪ Celeste Butler
♪ Hailey Faith
♪ Izzy Jones
♪ Connor Nelson
♪ Abrielle Cummings
♪ Bob Malone
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" 2017.
May 6, 2017:
"STRAIGHT TO THE HEART MUSIC FESTIVAL" at the Saban Theatre, 8440 Wilshire Bl, Beverly Hills, CA 90211; 888-645-5006; http://sabanconcerts.com/events/straight-to-the-heart
✔ TIX: available online or by phone; $58 / $85 / $97 / $150 + applicable fees. Under 18 must be accompanied by a paying adult. VIP parking available at 888-645-5006.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Doors 6 pm. show 8 pm. A one-night extravaganza with many artists in a theatre-concert format.
✔ 2017 LINEUP: "Few things lift the spirit like the sound of phenomenally talented young singers delivering songs directly from the heart, full of promise, hope and optimism. That is precisely what the eight principal singers in 'Straight To The Heart' bring to concert audiences. Coming from a variety of national, ethnic and religious backgrounds, these young prodigies combine their diverse talents in a show that spans inspired original compositions and inventive arrangements of a cross-genre presentation of music. Featured artist Ty Waters is an 11-year old Canadian with the voice of an angel and charisma to rival the young Stevie Wonder or Michael Jackson. The show also showcases seven other performers. Lebanese American pianist and singer Christen Ntanios a Lebanese-American protégé and member of the 'Ultimate Vocal Summit Elite' team. There are singer-songwriters Lane Hardy and Celeste Butler; singer and actress Hailey Faith; rock lyricist and vocalist Izzy Jones; and Canadian pop and R&B singer-songwriter Connor Nelson. The show opens with 4 ½ year old Abrielle Cummings performing The Carpenters’ 'Sing A Song.' Though newcomers to the national U.S. Scene, these artists have all garnered prizes, praise and renown in their communities, and are plainly destined for significant careers." Accomplished recording artist Bob Malone performs piano and keyboards for the cast. Bob says, "I'll be leading an all-star band including my John Fogerty bandmate Kenny Aronoff, Tariqh Akoni (Josh Groban) and Paul Hefti (Hefti plays Hefti)."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ Ty Waters
♪ Christen Ntanios
♪ Lane Hardy
♪ Celeste Butler
♪ Hailey Faith
♪ Izzy Jones
♪ Connor Nelson
♪ Abrielle Cummings
♪ Bob Malone
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
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Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
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.
"TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" 2017, May 6, all the details...
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" 2017.
Sat, May 6, 2017:
34th annual "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 Topanga Cyn Bl, Topanga, CA; www.SoCalBlues.org
✔ TIX: $35-$100; check their site. Advance tix are required; it sells-out early.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Produced by the Southern California Blues Society at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, the intimate, 300-seat outdoor theatre beneath huge sheltering oak trees.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ Joe Louis Walker
♪ Kid Ramos
♪ Teresa James
♪ Big Jon Atkinson
♪ Bernie Pearl
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" 2017.
Sat, May 6, 2017:
34th annual "TOPANGA BLUES FESTIVAL" at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, 1419 Topanga Cyn Bl, Topanga, CA; www.SoCalBlues.org
✔ TIX: $35-$100; check their site. Advance tix are required; it sells-out early.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: Produced by the Southern California Blues Society at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum, the intimate, 300-seat outdoor theatre beneath huge sheltering oak trees.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ Joe Louis Walker
♪ Kid Ramos
♪ Teresa James
♪ Big Jon Atkinson
♪ Bernie Pearl
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
"ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" 2017, May 6, all the details
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" 2017.
Sat, May 6; 2017:
9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" is FREE and happens on several stages in South Pasadena, CA; www.theeclectic.rocks
✔ TIX: It's free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: It's the largest "Eclectic" yet, with 60 bands across 15 stages, some indoors, some outdoors, all free. Plenty of folk-friendly acoustic music, plus other genres — remember, they named this one "Eclectic Music Festival." This really fun fest always has nebulous start times, so go much earlier than the advertised and you'll catch more music, have more gallery browsing, and get more of the complimentary snacks in the little venues. One principal stage is right by the Gold Line light rail station, at 1121 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030; the main indoor stage is in the concert hall of the Carnegie Library; the biggest outdoor stage is a fair-piece of a walk east on Mission St., with plenty happening along the way. Plus there are lots of smaller stages and gallery shows and receptions and exhibitions, some obvious, some tucked-away, within a few blocks surrounding the light rail station. Plenty of artsy venues have free snacks and beverages, in addition to the food vendors.
✔ NOTE 1: Go Metro Gold Line light rail and/or bus and receive a free commemorative event poster at the entrance – while supplies last. (Parking near the festival is free, but challenging.) Plan your trip on transit and get details at www.metro.net/discounts
✔ NOTE 2: Download before you go (it takes a while) -- FULL EVENT & MUSIC STAGE/PERFORMANCE PROGRAM, covering the full day, 3 pm-10:30 pm, at: www.theeclectic.rocks
✔ NOTE 3: 5-9 pm, at Ellen's Silkscreeening, 1506 Mission St, South Pasadena... "Stop in to see the Photographic Works ('Salones de Belleza Series') of our Own Operations Manager, Howard Norris.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
With 15 stages, you need to printout and take the schedule, at: www.theeclectic.rocks/lineup/
(Advertised headliners:)
♪ Ozomatli (Grammy winners)
♪ Ozokidz
♪ Thorcraft Cobra
♪ Shelby Gogreve & Taylor Plenn
- - -
(Picks we think you'll enjoy...)
♪ Tony Gilkyson (Folk Rock)
♪ The Ploughboys (Irish/Scotish)
♪ Lisa Haley & the Zydekats (Grammy nom Cajun-zydeco)
♪ Ricky Parish & the Rockabilly Rebels (Blues)
♪ South Pasadena Transit Authority (Big sound, Chicago tribute)
♪ Rick Shea (Western/Folk)
♪ Kiki Ebsen's Joni Mitchell Project (Tribute Band)
♪ Calvin Joe & the Orange Grove Rangers (Bluegrass)
♪ Charlie Hickey (Singer-Songwriter)
♪ Liv Kennedy (Singer-Songwriter)
♪ BrowderSister (Blues-Folk-Soul)
♪ Shelby Gogreve & Taylor Plenn ("Amazing Hometown Heroes")
♪ Kids & Family by Theatre Americana (Kids Program)
♪ David Margolis (Classical Guitar)
♪ Powdercoat (Americana)
♪ Dave Plenn & Friends (Americana)
♪ Danette Christine (Memphis Soul)
♪ The Anny Celsi Band (listed as "Power Pop," but first-rate and can be folky)
♪ Kate Brown (Country Pop)
♪ The Turner Family (Acoustic Family act)
♪ New Caribbean feat. Einstein Brown (Calypso)
♪ Harmonius Tantrum (Empowering young ladies)
♪ Open Jam at Craft Hill (with Backline)
- - -
Guitar / vocalists: (lots of friends and faves here)
♪ Mikael Pederson (Blues guitar)
♪ James Hurley
♪ Jeanne Newhall
♪ Dale LaDuke
♪ Corrina Carter
♪ Emma Schou
♪ Chauncey Bowers
♪ Eric Chase
♪ Bill Burnett
♪ Lisa Turner (Folk)
♪ Tim Turner (Guitar & Blues)
- - -
♪ Plus, there's lots of jazz and more in other genres.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on the "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" 2017.
Sat, May 6; 2017:
9th annual "ECLECTIC MUSIC FESTIVAL & ART WALK" is FREE and happens on several stages in South Pasadena, CA; www.theeclectic.rocks
✔ TIX: It's free.
✔ CAMPING: No.
✔ THE SCENE: It's the largest "Eclectic" yet, with 60 bands across 15 stages, some indoors, some outdoors, all free. Plenty of folk-friendly acoustic music, plus other genres — remember, they named this one "Eclectic Music Festival." This really fun fest always has nebulous start times, so go much earlier than the advertised and you'll catch more music, have more gallery browsing, and get more of the complimentary snacks in the little venues. One principal stage is right by the Gold Line light rail station, at 1121 Mission St, South Pasadena, CA 91030; the main indoor stage is in the concert hall of the Carnegie Library; the biggest outdoor stage is a fair-piece of a walk east on Mission St., with plenty happening along the way. Plus there are lots of smaller stages and gallery shows and receptions and exhibitions, some obvious, some tucked-away, within a few blocks surrounding the light rail station. Plenty of artsy venues have free snacks and beverages, in addition to the food vendors.
✔ NOTE 1: Go Metro Gold Line light rail and/or bus and receive a free commemorative event poster at the entrance – while supplies last. (Parking near the festival is free, but challenging.) Plan your trip on transit and get details at www.metro.net/discounts
✔ NOTE 2: Download before you go (it takes a while) -- FULL EVENT & MUSIC STAGE/PERFORMANCE PROGRAM, covering the full day, 3 pm-10:30 pm, at: www.theeclectic.rocks
✔ NOTE 3: 5-9 pm, at Ellen's Silkscreeening, 1506 Mission St, South Pasadena... "Stop in to see the Photographic Works ('Salones de Belleza Series') of our Own Operations Manager, Howard Norris.
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
With 15 stages, you need to printout and take the schedule, at: www.theeclectic.rocks/lineup/
(Advertised headliners:)
♪ Ozomatli (Grammy winners)
♪ Ozokidz
♪ Thorcraft Cobra
♪ Shelby Gogreve & Taylor Plenn
- - -
(Picks we think you'll enjoy...)
♪ Tony Gilkyson (Folk Rock)
♪ The Ploughboys (Irish/Scotish)
♪ Lisa Haley & the Zydekats (Grammy nom Cajun-zydeco)
♪ Ricky Parish & the Rockabilly Rebels (Blues)
♪ South Pasadena Transit Authority (Big sound, Chicago tribute)
♪ Rick Shea (Western/Folk)
♪ Kiki Ebsen's Joni Mitchell Project (Tribute Band)
♪ Calvin Joe & the Orange Grove Rangers (Bluegrass)
♪ Charlie Hickey (Singer-Songwriter)
♪ Liv Kennedy (Singer-Songwriter)
♪ BrowderSister (Blues-Folk-Soul)
♪ Shelby Gogreve & Taylor Plenn ("Amazing Hometown Heroes")
♪ Kids & Family by Theatre Americana (Kids Program)
♪ David Margolis (Classical Guitar)
♪ Powdercoat (Americana)
♪ Dave Plenn & Friends (Americana)
♪ Danette Christine (Memphis Soul)
♪ The Anny Celsi Band (listed as "Power Pop," but first-rate and can be folky)
♪ Kate Brown (Country Pop)
♪ The Turner Family (Acoustic Family act)
♪ New Caribbean feat. Einstein Brown (Calypso)
♪ Harmonius Tantrum (Empowering young ladies)
♪ Open Jam at Craft Hill (with Backline)
- - -
Guitar / vocalists: (lots of friends and faves here)
♪ Mikael Pederson (Blues guitar)
♪ James Hurley
♪ Jeanne Newhall
♪ Dale LaDuke
♪ Corrina Carter
♪ Emma Schou
♪ Chauncey Bowers
♪ Eric Chase
♪ Bill Burnett
♪ Lisa Turner (Folk)
♪ Tim Turner (Guitar & Blues)
- - -
♪ Plus, there's lots of jazz and more in other genres.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
"DYLANFEST" 2017, May 7... all the details
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "DYLANFEST" 2017.
May 7, 2017:
27th annual "DYLANFEST" in the Torino Plaza at the Torrance Cultural Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr, Torrance, CA 90503; http://www.andyandrenee.com/content.php?id=12.
✔ TIX: $30 adv, $35 at door; Kids $10 (ages 7-14 yrs); VIP tix (with lots of goodies), $100.
✔ CAMPING: Only in self-contained RVs (no hookups).
✔ There are plenty of videos of live performances from previous Dylanfests, plus you can check-out the program from the 25th Annual Dylanfest at the event's web page.
✔ THE SCENE: It's eight delightful hours, noon-8 pm, with 50+ musicians performing 60+ songs, all the amazing music of BOB DYLAN, with no repeats. Some in the huge lineup of talented musicians come off the road just to play this annual event. ANDY HILL & RENEE SAFIER and their award-winning band HARD RAIN produce and present it each year. The venue is a large-ish outdoor courtyard with plenty of access to indoor shade. If it rains, it all moves inside. The Guide's staff are all longtime fans of this one. Really fun, various string instruments, some acoustic, some electric; always fun to see the ensembles, harmony groupings, great keyboards and horn players taking part.
✔ SPECIAL NOTE: "The audience is encouraged to dress up in costumes as characters, things, interpretations and comedic misinterpretations of Dylan’s song titles or lyrics. Some of the costumes over the years have included various versions of 'Tangled Up In Blue,' 'Highway 61,' 'Farmer’s Daughter,' 'Isis,' and 'Baby Blue,' among others."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ It's traditional not to announce the lineup in advance for this one. But it's always excellent.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
.
Weekend festivals, May 6 & 7, 2017, one-by-one...
Here are the details on "DYLANFEST" 2017.
May 7, 2017:
27th annual "DYLANFEST" in the Torino Plaza at the Torrance Cultural Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr, Torrance, CA 90503; http://www.andyandrenee.com/content.php?id=12.
✔ TIX: $30 adv, $35 at door; Kids $10 (ages 7-14 yrs); VIP tix (with lots of goodies), $100.
✔ CAMPING: Only in self-contained RVs (no hookups).
✔ There are plenty of videos of live performances from previous Dylanfests, plus you can check-out the program from the 25th Annual Dylanfest at the event's web page.
✔ THE SCENE: It's eight delightful hours, noon-8 pm, with 50+ musicians performing 60+ songs, all the amazing music of BOB DYLAN, with no repeats. Some in the huge lineup of talented musicians come off the road just to play this annual event. ANDY HILL & RENEE SAFIER and their award-winning band HARD RAIN produce and present it each year. The venue is a large-ish outdoor courtyard with plenty of access to indoor shade. If it rains, it all moves inside. The Guide's staff are all longtime fans of this one. Really fun, various string instruments, some acoustic, some electric; always fun to see the ensembles, harmony groupings, great keyboards and horn players taking part.
✔ SPECIAL NOTE: "The audience is encouraged to dress up in costumes as characters, things, interpretations and comedic misinterpretations of Dylan’s song titles or lyrics. Some of the costumes over the years have included various versions of 'Tangled Up In Blue,' 'Highway 61,' 'Farmer’s Daughter,' 'Isis,' and 'Baby Blue,' among others."
✔ 2017 LINEUP:
♪ It's traditional not to announce the lineup in advance for this one. But it's always excellent.
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
Remembering BILL BRYSON, bluegrass musician extraordinaire -- May 3 special edition 2017
.
.
It is our sad duty to bring you this news.
___
Remembering BILL BRYSON (November 10, 1946 - April 30, 2017), bluegrass musician extraordinaire
By Larry Wines
We have lost a delightful presence and fine musician, universally acclaimed as the best by the best, and the accolades reach back many decades. Most music fans knew him only as a consummate artist of the upright bass, and formidable vocalist. A few lucky folks knew him as fine dinner company after the show. There was so much more to Bill.
Laurie Lewis tells us, "Patrick Sauber called me Monday morning with the news of Bill Bryson's death. Bill played a huge part in helping to shape young Patrick's mind, intellectually and musically, and played with him in numerous bands, chiefly Loafer's Glory."
Tom Rozum wrote, "I first saw Bill at the San Diego Folk Festival in the mid 1970s, when he was playing bass and did all the talking on stage with the then California-based Bluegrass Cardinals, and a year later when they played at the Old Tucson Bluegrass Festival. I thought it was cool how he would speak so eloquently, and because he was shorter than the rest, how he would immediately hoist the center microphone up so that the trio could all gather around it and commence playing. In 1979 I just about jumped out of my seat with joy when I saw and heard Bill and Tom Sauber on the silver screen playing honest-to-God, real old time music in the hit movie, 'The Long Riders' (musical direction by Ry Cooder).
"Most people know Bill as the solid bass player in the 80's country rock band, Desert Rose, which included Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Steve Duncan, Jay Dee Maness, and later, Tom Brumley. Bluegrassers know him for his strong bass playing, singing and powerful songwriting with The Bluegrass Cardinals, Bluegrass Etc, Loafer's Glory, and The Brombies. But Bill was very adept at old time banjo and had a big background in finger style country blues. He told me once that while in high school, playing in an old time stringband with David Lindley, David took him over to hear a bluegrass band rehearse at someone's house in Pasadena. It was Bill's first exposure to hearing bluegrass. What a great thing to first hear it live! Oh yeah, it didn't hurt that the band was not too shabby-The Kentucky Colonels (with Clarence and Roland White)!"
"Bill was the consummate sideman, always did his homework, had one of the most dependable beats in the business, and then when he'd step up to the mic to sing he held the audience in the palm of his hand. Such a wonderful songwriter. Bill had a brilliant mind and was a sun worshipper. I can see him sitting in the sun outside a motel room in the sun, ingesting Volume 3 of 'The Quasi War With France,' a weighty tome on British naval battles. I remember him playing at RockyGrass with someone a number of years ago, and a young musician said, 'I've gotta go listen! they have a legendary old bass guy, from Cuba or somewhere.'
"A tip of the hat to Bill's ever-present SoCal tan. Our hearts go out to Bill's many friends and to his wife, Annie."
Laurie Lewis posted this video of Bill Bryson performing — and singing — with the Brombies, including Patrick Sauber, at their long-running Monday night residency at Viva Cantina in Burbank, CA. It was April 15, 2013, when many patrons were celebrating getting their taxes done. Bill and the Brombies are playing "Small Things." Small things from a short guy who was a giant in so many ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR6wMI9Xt90
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
CHECK OUT the Guide's new
♪ "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" the definitive
SPRING THRU FALL 2017 MUSIC FESTIVAL GUIDE !
The latest, from this coming weekend through the full season, is in the
CURRENT & FUTURE FESTIVALS EDITION
at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
__________
MUCH, MUCH MORE of the LOCAL and the NATIONAL scene of Folk-Americana music festivals is coming SOON!
Meantime, don't sit home this weekend, or any weekend through the end of June!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...
Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox?
What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
________________________________
Direct to the Guide's current editions /
MOBILE-DEVICE-FRIENDLY
editions load quickly at
.
www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
Contents copyright © 2017,
Lawrence Wines & Tied to the Tracks.
All rights reserved.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
♪ 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. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds 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 bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
.
The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
It is our sad duty to bring you this news.
___
Remembering BILL BRYSON (November 10, 1946 - April 30, 2017), bluegrass musician extraordinaire
By Larry Wines
We have lost a delightful presence and fine musician, universally acclaimed as the best by the best, and the accolades reach back many decades. Most music fans knew him only as a consummate artist of the upright bass, and formidable vocalist. A few lucky folks knew him as fine dinner company after the show. There was so much more to Bill.
Laurie Lewis tells us, "Patrick Sauber called me Monday morning with the news of Bill Bryson's death. Bill played a huge part in helping to shape young Patrick's mind, intellectually and musically, and played with him in numerous bands, chiefly Loafer's Glory."
Tom Rozum wrote, "I first saw Bill at the San Diego Folk Festival in the mid 1970s, when he was playing bass and did all the talking on stage with the then California-based Bluegrass Cardinals, and a year later when they played at the Old Tucson Bluegrass Festival. I thought it was cool how he would speak so eloquently, and because he was shorter than the rest, how he would immediately hoist the center microphone up so that the trio could all gather around it and commence playing. In 1979 I just about jumped out of my seat with joy when I saw and heard Bill and Tom Sauber on the silver screen playing honest-to-God, real old time music in the hit movie, 'The Long Riders' (musical direction by Ry Cooder).
"Most people know Bill as the solid bass player in the 80's country rock band, Desert Rose, which included Chris Hillman, Herb Pedersen, John Jorgenson, Steve Duncan, Jay Dee Maness, and later, Tom Brumley. Bluegrassers know him for his strong bass playing, singing and powerful songwriting with The Bluegrass Cardinals, Bluegrass Etc, Loafer's Glory, and The Brombies. But Bill was very adept at old time banjo and had a big background in finger style country blues. He told me once that while in high school, playing in an old time stringband with David Lindley, David took him over to hear a bluegrass band rehearse at someone's house in Pasadena. It was Bill's first exposure to hearing bluegrass. What a great thing to first hear it live! Oh yeah, it didn't hurt that the band was not too shabby-The Kentucky Colonels (with Clarence and Roland White)!"
"Bill was the consummate sideman, always did his homework, had one of the most dependable beats in the business, and then when he'd step up to the mic to sing he held the audience in the palm of his hand. Such a wonderful songwriter. Bill had a brilliant mind and was a sun worshipper. I can see him sitting in the sun outside a motel room in the sun, ingesting Volume 3 of 'The Quasi War With France,' a weighty tome on British naval battles. I remember him playing at RockyGrass with someone a number of years ago, and a young musician said, 'I've gotta go listen! they have a legendary old bass guy, from Cuba or somewhere.'
"A tip of the hat to Bill's ever-present SoCal tan. Our hearts go out to Bill's many friends and to his wife, Annie."
Laurie Lewis posted this video of Bill Bryson performing — and singing — with the Brombies, including Patrick Sauber, at their long-running Monday night residency at Viva Cantina in Burbank, CA. It was April 15, 2013, when many patrons were celebrating getting their taxes done. Bill and the Brombies are playing "Small Things." Small things from a short guy who was a giant in so many ways.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JR6wMI9Xt90
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
CHECK OUT the Guide's new
♪ "ENCYCLOPEDIA FESTIVANICA" the definitive
SPRING THRU FALL 2017 MUSIC FESTIVAL GUIDE !
The latest, from this coming weekend through the full season, is in the
CURRENT & FUTURE FESTIVALS EDITION
at:
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/04/2017-music-festival-guide-current.html
__________
MUCH, MUCH MORE of the LOCAL and the NATIONAL scene of Folk-Americana music festivals is coming SOON!
Meantime, don't sit home this weekend, or any weekend through the end of June!
+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...
Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox?
What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for the basic essential informational stuff...
________________________________
Direct to the Guide's current editions /
MOBILE-DEVICE-FRIENDLY
editions load quickly at
.
www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com
.
<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>-<^>
.
CONTACT US at / send Questions / Comments to:
Tiedtothetracks (at) Hotmail (dot) com
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Contents copyright © 2017,
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. That includes both traditional and innovative forms. From the deepest roots to today’s acoustic renaissance, that’s our beat. We provide a wealth of resources, including a HUGE catalog of acoustic-friendly venues (now undergoing a major update), and inside info on FESTIVALS and select performances in Southern California in venues from the monumentally large to the intimately small and cozy. We cover workshops, conferences, and other events for artists and folks in the music industry, and all kinds 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 bluegrass and pre-bluegrass Appalachian mountain music to all the swamp water roots of the blues and the bright lights of where the music is headed now.
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The Acoustic Americana Music Guide. Thanks for sittin' a spell. The porch'll be here anytime you come back from the road.
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