Tonight's Betwixt 'n Between, Post-Christmas, Pre-New Year's Eve Music Scene. Dec 28, 2017

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Options out 'n about, and one that's online... Because you haven't got any chestnuts to roast, anyway. And if those holiday guests are still there, you need to take them someplace just so you won't have to hear the same jokes and stories for the eleventeenth time.

We're still working on The Guide's BIIIIIG NEW YEAR'S EVE roundup of the best LIVE MUSIC / PERFORMANCE EVENTS happening on NYE. Meantime, tonight offers some fine options

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Contents / In this Edition...

1) Music in the Venues Tonight (and one broadcast/web radio show)

2) Live (recorded) Performance Online / On Demand: Duo from The Freight Hoppers

3) Recommended Film, Now in Release: "Last Flag Flying"

4) Reminders from Recent Editions -- Events Still Playing

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# 1 feature...


♪ MUSIC IN THE VENUES TONIGHT (and one broadcast/web radio show)


Thu, Dec 28:
5 pm KEN O'MALLEY plays an early evening solo show at The Auld Dubliner, 71 S Pine Av, Long Beach, CA 90802; www.aulddubliner.com
* One of L.A.'s top Irish/Celtic singer-songwriters and multi-instrumentalists presents story and song by, says the Irish News, "one of the best Irish Balladeers in California!"
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ON B'DCAST & WEB RADIO...
Thu, Dec 28:
6:30-7 pm Saving the BALLONA WETLANDS & SANTA MONICA'S SYCAMORE, tonight on "CALIFORNIA SOLARTOPIA" with host Harvey "Sluggo" Wasserman & guest co-host Myla Reson on KPFK 90.7 FM, online simulcast at www.kpfk.org
* Harvey says, "We go into detail on the 'Forever fight' to save the Ballona wetlands and the new one to Save the California Sycamore. GREAT experts & guests will join us."
* ATTEND LIVE at 1122 California Av, in Santa Monica.
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Thu, Dec 28:
7:30 pm ELLEN & STEVE STAPENHORST play their annual show at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena CA; reservations by phone only, 10 am-10-pm, 7 days, at 626-798-6236.
* John Denver once OPENED for Steve. Ellen still plays all over the nation and the world.
* A fun and nostalgic turn from an act who makes it here once or twice per year. A lot of joy, maybe some choreography, and good music. So says Bob.
* In this show, Ellen Stapenhorst joins her brother Steve for an evening of sibling revelry as she continues her mission of spreading optimism and hope in challenging times. Traveling from her current digs in the quirky Rocky Mountain town of Paonia, Ellen brings fine songs, stories and humor, and a voice which will touch your soul…“A DAMN fine set of pipes!” actor Tim Curry exclaimed at one of her shows.
* From the L.A. coffeehouses of the ’60s, Ellen has gone on to castles on the Rhine, concert halls in Europe and the Caribbean, and the iconic Red Rocks Amphitheatre near Denver. Choral arrangements of her music have been performed by several choirs, including the Aspen Choral Society, and her songs are showing up on playlists around the world. She brings a joyful warmth and humor to venues large and small, and her songs come from, and go right to, the heart.
* Ellen has shared stages with many folk and country artists, including John Denver, Buffy Ste. Marie and the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band.
* Ellen has released five albums of original music, her latest being "Gravity & Light."
* On the airwaves, Ellen’s “Traveler” rode the "most-requested" list for two years on "Tied to the Tracks" -- the preeminent expression of L.A. acoustic radio -- and “Broke Down and Stalled in Grand Junction” was featured on NPR’s "Car Talk."
* Steve Stapenhorst, Ellen's brother, is a musician and actor with over 60 credits in TV and film, including "Mad Men," "West Wing," "Monk and Dexter," and recently "Scandal," and John C. Reilly's "Check it Out" with Dr. Steve Brule (in an episode called "Eggs," for a different side of Steve). He just shot an episode of the FX hit comedy, "Baskets."
* Steve adds his guitar and harmonies to Ellen's songs, throwing in one of his originals now and then. He joyfully shares his often terrible sense of humor, "resulting in sibling banter that can only surface after hundreds of years of performing together . . . but who’s counting?" he says. Oh, and that part about John Denver opening for Steve's band? That was about the same time Steve opened for the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band "at the dawn of time," he adds, "when Jackson Browne was in the Dirt Band."
* All of which prods venue impresario Bob Stane to say, "History comes alive at the Coffee Gallery Backstage!"
* Tix, $18.
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Thu, Dec 28:
7:30 pm GREG PORÉE GROUP plays the "Jazz at the Blue Guitar" series at in the Blue Guitar room at Arroyo Seco Golf Course, 1055 Lohman Lane, South Pasadena, CA.
* Greg Porée grew up in a multi-cultural environment in Los Angeles and his career in music reflects his upbringing. He has worked with a diverse group of musicians ranging from Ray Charles and Herbie Hancock to Diana Ross, Sting, and Phoebe Snow. His influences also cover a great chasm from Bach to the Beatles, and from Villa-Lobos to Motown. He was lead guitarist on the hit BBC show ‘Dancing with the Stars’ for eight years, and can be heard on landmark albums by Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, Stanley Turrentine, Randy Crawford, Albert King, Ahmad Jamal, Benny Golson, Donald Byrd, and James Blunt. He produced groundbreaking solo albums in association with Sting for world music master Vinx, and was musical director for Sonny and Cher, The Supremes, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and Joan Baez. He will be joined by Isaias Elpes on bass and Joey Heredia on drums.
* Adjacent to the Blue Guitar is the Arroyo Seco Grill which has food, wine, and full bar. You can bring your own bottle for a $10 corkage fee. Doors open 30 minutes prior to showtime. The restaurant is open all day.
* Tix at: https://deepmix.thundertix.com/events
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# 2 feature...


♪ LIVE (recorded) PERFORMANCE ONLINE / ON DEMAND: DUO from THE FREIGHT HOPPERS


Check-out FOLK ALLEY'S "Open Mic Highlight" with FRANK LEE & ALLIE BURBRINK of The Freight Hoppers.

Frank Lee and Allie Burbrink present songs and tunes from the rural Southern tradition, spanning bluegrass, old time, blues, and spirituals. After a few years of collaborating, they took their duo act on the road in January 2016, with Frank playing guitar, slide guitar, and banjo and Allie playing guitar, banjo, and harmonica. They can also be heard trading-off lead and harmony vocals in their duet show and with their old time string band The Freight Hoppers.

A passion for traditional songs and tunes from the rural South has fueled Frank's love of performing for the past 40 years. As a founding member of The Freight Hoppers, he has shared this passion with audiences all over the United States, Canada, and northern Europe. His repertoire has a range of old time music that spans raw Blues from the Mississippi Delta to the hillbilly music recorded in the 1920s.

Allie Burbrink is a founding member of The Whipstitch Sallies, a bluegrass-influenced band from Indiana. She works with the Wernick Method Bluegrass Jamming organization and performs in the duo and with The Freight Hoppers.

Frank and Allie also organize an old time music retreat in the Great Smoky Mountains in early April called the "Banjo-Fiddle Frolic."

LISTEN TO and learn about Frank and Allie on their Folk Alley "Open Mic" page, at:

http://www.folkalley.com/openmic/artist.php?id=4190
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AND of course there's plenty more, including the 24/7 internet radio stations of Ohio-based "Folk Alley," at the basic root url:

www.folkalley.com


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# 3 feature...


♪ RECOMMENDED FILM, NOW IN RELEASE: "LAST FLAG FLYING"

"Last Flag Flying" is the new film with Brian Cranston, Steve Correl and Lawrence Fishburn. It's a good anti-war movie, very poignant, balanced with bellylaugh humor, with believably complex characters, each on a journey of reconciliation with a his own long-buried past.

You've already seen the words "war" and "his," but this film will appeal to plenty of women, too.

Fact is, before we saw it, the premise did not attract us at all -- a very young Marine is killed in Afghanistan, and his Vietnam Vet father is helped by his own old war buddies to get through all that happens because of it, including how and where to bury the kid.

But if that synopsis sounds like the story line, it sure isn't what the film is really about. This is the best, non-shoot-'em-up movie portraying what war is really all about. And it is very, very well done. This film better be a strong Oscar contender, for most of the key awards.

The performances are outstanding. The writing is outstanding. The cinematography is wonderful. Go.


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# 4 feature...


♪ REMINDERS FROM RECENT EDITIONS -- EVENTS STILL PLAYING


Here are some quick "a, b, c's" (and an added "d") for your fun needs.

a) ♪ HOLIDAY ICE RINK AT PERSHING SQUARE: The "Bai Holiday Ice Rink Pershing Square" has returned for its 20th anniversary season, outdoors under the palms. That's across the street from the L.A. Biltmore, and Pershing Square has its own Red/Purple Line subway station. The Guide always reports on things there in terms of the free access for everyone to watch and hear the LIVE MUSIC STAGE that accompanies the skate-for-a-fee skating rink -- but they didn't notify anybody this year about the music stage. In any event, LA WEEKLY reports, "The beloved recreational landmark [i.e., the Ice Skating Rink] is open now through January 15th for winter fun in the heart of downtown Los Angeles." Along with being something to do this weekend, the rink has a special event on New Year’s Day. That's the "Polar Bear Skate: The L.A. Edition" on Sunday, January 1, 2018 from 2:30-3:30 pm. Details are in our Dec 23 edition, and tickets for the ice rink or the special event can be bought at the rink's ticket window or in advance online at www.holidayicerinkdowntownla.com.
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b) ♪ "TITANIC" AT THE REAGAN LIBRARY CLOSES JANUARY 7. Because you just saw "Reagan Library," you might think we're using the word "titanic" in its generic meaning as "something large." Nope. It's the word in its most singular iconic usage, because the White Star Steamship line chose that word to name what was, at the time, the world's largest ship. It was, of course, the 882-foot-long R.M.S. Titanic -- the one that sunk on its maiden voyage in the middle of the North Atlantic on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg before midnight on April 14th.

Everyone has seen the James Cameron movie, "Titanic." Though 2017 marks the 20th anniversary of the film's release, it was the latest in a long series of movie accounts. Even with the fictionalized romance of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, the biggest wow-factor special effects of the time, and the original song by Celine Deon? The fact remains that the tragedy took the lives of at least 1,517 passengers and crew. Only 705 people survived in her lifeboats, and the possessions they took with them have been treasured, though scattered, relics of the tragedy.

The ship's lifeboats were all that was left of the lost liner herself, until Dr. Robert Ballard led a team in 1985 that piggybacked a search for the Titanic onto a secret mission for the US Navy. They found the ship, but didn't file salvage rights to protect the wreck and the ocean floor around it, which was strewn with artifacts.

Found while Ronald Reagan was President, and because he signed the 1986 "RMS Titanic Memorial Act" to designate the wreck as an international maritime memorial, it is appropriate that this exhibition was brought together at the Reagan Library.

For years, a curated collection of artifacts from the sea floor, recovered by others, has made the rounds of museums all over the world.

But this time it's different. Sets and props from the movie are integrated with possessions of lost passengers in the Reagan Library's exhibition.

"Titanic at the Reagan Library" combinines real artifacts with the real stories of the people onboard the ill-fated ship, and the film's models and props. This new exhibit tells the story of the unsinkable ship in a way no museum has done before. Artifacts from passengers, dispersed over time, are reunited in this exhibit for the first time in over 100 years.

This brand-new 10,000 square foot exhibition reunites hundreds of "Titanic" artifacts that have not been together since the ship’s fateful night in 1912. With them are materials and artifacts from the 1984-1985 discovery of the Titanic as well as with items from the 1997 movie. Together, this is a first-of-its-kind exhibition not seen anywhere else before.

It allows visitors to compare recovered artifacts and family heirlooms from survivors with the movie's "as built" appearance of things -- the ship still smelled of fresh paint when she sailed. Recovered artifacts, stabilized by conservators, emerge from the sea floor corroded and encrusted with the remnants of deep sea life. The latter even include evidence of the "rusticles" formed by iron-eating microorganisms that are devouring the great ship itself.

Admission includes a ticket to tour the Reagan Presidential Library and all its permanent exhibits. So it's a great place to take holiday visitors and spend the entire day.

Tickets and info:

https://www.reaganfoundation.org/library-museum/special-exhibits/titanic/

Note: Discount tix have appeared on various websites. As always, be careful that you aren't getting scammed!
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c) ♪ IDEAS FOR THINGS TO DO / PLACES TO GO are in The Guide's "Last Minute Gift Ideas" edition from Dec. 24. Hey, just because you didn't want to spring for a gift membership doesn't mean you and those guests at su casa wouldn't like to go! Check out
our recommendations at:

https://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2017/12/last-minute-gift-ideas-plus-tv-show-of.html
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d) ♪ ONE WE LEFT OUT: GO SEE THE SPACE SHUTTLE ENDEAVOUR at the California Science Center, at 901-999 Leighton Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90037. Of course, there's plenty of other good stuff to see there, too. Check it out at: https://californiasciencecenter.org/exhibits/air-space/space-shuttle-endeavour


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♪ THAT'S A WRAP FOR THIS EDITION
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We'll be back soon with our annual GUIDE TO NEW YEAR'S EVE.

In 2018, The Guide will return with many more inclusive and inquisitive
and informative and pretty dad-burn interestin' coverage
of all kindsa things, continuing forward and onward
in our MUSIC NEWS editions.

Interviews, previews, reviews,
how regulatory and industry changes effect the industry
and individual artists,
and more,
coming your way soon.

Meantime, check in and LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK about THIS one.

Y'all come back now, y'hear?

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See you next time!

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Seriously...
THIS IS HERE FOR YOU, THE ACOUSTIC MUSIC-MAKER AND FAN, SO LET US KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!

As always, we invite you to join us and to let us know what YOU are listening to, and what artists or bands just sent you swooning and need to be shared with others.

Doing our part depends on you doing your part. That way, you'll know that a whole lot more is always coming soon — including fresh MUSIC NEWS, PREVIEWS & REVIEWS, and things in the future like our massive guide to the MUSIC FESTIVALS of 2017.

Meantime, we are ALWAYS big advocates of supporting LIVE PERFORMANCE. With everything happening in the big, wide world, and through these festival-packed, waning-of-summer weekends? Go get tuneful!


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LEGALESE, CONTACTING US, 'N SUCH...

Boilerplate? Where's the main pressure gauge? And the firebox? Is it Walschaerts or Baker or Stephenson valve gear? Superheated or saturated? Duplex or Standard stoker? Circulators or syphons in the firebox?

What "boilerplate"? Who came up with that goofy term for basic essential informational stuff... geeez... soon as we take water from the tank, top-off the lubricators, and get beans from the Harvey House, we are sooo steamin' down the line...
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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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