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A weekend FESTIVAL and other upcoming music events follows our catch-you-up post. Scroll if you are burning with desire to find tunefullness, or if you are annoyed that we are endeavoring to catch-you-up on "what we did this summer."
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WHERE WE'VE BEEN...
NAMM out of season, alpine rambles begun, multitudinous steam engines, getting COVID despite vaxx & booster, cyber cement, alpine rambles resumed, then a lil' wreck high on a mountain: summer 2022
To paraphrase Mark Twain, Reports of our demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Yes, there were all those steam engines in a time-machine visit to the 19th century. There was, back here in the 21st century, that unpleasantry of running aground on a cyber reef, and soon thereafter getting COVID (despite vaxx & booster). And proceeding with recovery from the damn virus variant on an accelerated regimen, there was the determined aim to salvage the original plan for the rest of the summer... Which was all about a return to reliving excitements from the 20th century. And then, there was the reality of having all that (and purt near everything else) derailed by a lil' 21st century mountaineering wreck. Yes, yes, go ahead and lecture us for being high on a solo climb at 9,000 feet, where we got into that lil' wreck that broke bones and necessitated trekking up and over another mountain to get out.
Reckon that about, uhh, sums it up.
If it all sounds too crazy to follow in that summary, pop some popcorn or crack open a cold beverage. Here's the storytelling-as-art version:
Around here, summer began this past spring, well before the Solstice. An early start on training climbs and hikes were absolute requirements to get in shape for summer's very specific goals: re-ascending some of the more formidable peaks in two Western states, ascended long ago, and hopefully once again, by worthwhile (not "walk-up" routes).
The plan for the 130-or-so days of extended summer was to get away from work at every opportunity, to go out to go up. That began as the snow was melting, mostly with lightweight mountaineering jaunts plus some time on the high-angle crags. Fun experiences in their own rights, and intended to enable getting serious as the high season ensued.
Chief goals for the summer included re-ascents of a trio of 14,000-ft peaks in two states during 2022. This year is a significant anniversary of learning to climb and personal first ascents of several challenging peaks. Repeating two 13,000-foot peaks -- still vividly remembered as the first "real" alpine ascents experienced -- were also on the list, along with several lower summits and crags, many of them challenging, and adding some "new" routes in the neighborhoods of those visited before and fondly treasured ever since.
Things were on schedule in April. They fell behind in May with returning to emcee at the resumed-after-COVID Topanga Banjo•Fiddle Contest & Folk Festival. June brought the much-anticipated resumption of the NAMM Show at the Anaheim Convention Center. Out of season by six months, it combined what is always Winter NAMM in California with still-on-pandemic-hiatus Summer NAMM that is always in July in Nashville. About half the usual size, we found it filled with innovative new music products of every conceivable kind, following all the time that locked-down designers and visionaries had to dream-up and craft new realities.
June also brought unanticipated issues of structural integrity of the bunkhouse here at the ranch, and required intense involvement to assess and plan for 21 new concrete piers as foundations to be poured to save the building.
That delayed our anticipated full report on NAMM.
By then a major feature story and gear acquisition safaris were both a month behind. Plans for multiple treks with a backpack into various desired mountain regions, combined with frustration over being hamstrung with scenes from the movie, "The Money Pit," and something needed to give.
In the nick of time, word of something else arrived. Learning late that an already- tempting July 4th week event in Nevada would be far more than anticipated, there was a skid to a stop, and course correction to include it. The Nevada State Railroad Museum in Carson City would hold "Steamfest," and not just to boil water in its own stable of historic steam locomotives.
Turns out 2022 is the 150th birthday of the founding of the frontier West's most famous shortline railroad, the Virginia & Truckee Railroad. Everybody thinks they know Virginia City, Nevada, from endless reruns of "Bonanza." Well, the real Virginia City is far more interesting, being perched on the side of a steep mountain and still mostly comprised of 1860s-1870s structures. Your editor knows, because he lived there in an old wooden caboose while working a college summer job as steam locomotive mechanic and hostler on the revived part of the V&T railroad that hauls tourists.
The state railroad museum down in Carson City is home to some of the original Virginia & Truckee equipment (and more), while Virginia City is home to a steam-powered re-creation, and never the twain shall meet. Until the July 4th extravaganza and grand gathering of vintage V&T engines that had been uniquely rescued for movie stardom and gradually scattered to all points of the compass.
That 150 year convergence with the calendar occasioned the biggest-ever gathering of surviving 19th century "V&T" steam locomotives. They had not been together in more than 80 years, when Hollywood began buying them for every classic film since the 1920s that features a train from the 1860s to 1900. Piece de resistance -- no other railroad saved so much, and most of these engines would RUN.
Well. It was fabulous, and two feature stories, heavily illustrated with photographs, were promised and expected. But... a stop in the Wal-Mart in Carson City encountered an unmasked child too large to be carried in his unmasked mother's arms, and realization of that anomaly didn't dawn until the kid snotted all over me as I walked by. Three days later I had COVID, and had barely made it home in an exhausted condition.
Being double-vaxxed and single-boosted avoided hospitalization. But, rendered useless for complex thoughts to write much, stamina was too depleted to want to focus on anything. I finally tested negative on the 14th day. But stamina for any task was gone. Ultimately, it was pushing to get back to some kind of physical regimen, at altitude in the mountains, that slowly headed things in the general direction of back to normal.
The summer seemed salvageable. But now it was August.
Ascents of three 9,000+ foot peaks were successful, as the post-COVID recovery crept forward. Then, on August 31st, descending from the second ascent in a week of the highest of these three summits, ball-bearing scree (gravel) on a smooth slab of steep rock launched me headlong. Seeing while airborne that a rock outcrop was about to merge with facial features of which I am rather fond, an awkward pirouete in the air succeeded in depositing me in a little rock cleft, wedged-in on my back, legs above my head.
In that sort of situation, you take a few minutes to assess things. Starting with, is anything gushing blood? (No, scraped, some blood, not serious.) Is anything broken? (Yes. Almost certainly, a couple of ribs.)
You take a few minutes, or whatever time is required, to devise a self-rescue that won't make anything worse. Move carefully to loosen shoulder straps to slip out of the pack that is wedged-in beneath where you are wedged-in. (Awkward, as pack straps scrape across missing skin.) Un-wedge yourself without plummeting down the mountain. Determine, for sure, that feet and legs should hold you when the upside-down attitude is corrected. (Yep, seems good.) Figure how to pivot legs over damaged torso and avoid standing on your head, as you maneuver to land on your feet. (Alley-oop.)
First order of business: find the missing alpaca wool mountain hat from Ecuador that you bought long ago at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival and that you've worn on more adventures than you can count. Ah. Reclaimed about a hundred feet down the mountain, where it nearly went over the edge.
Then go back up to the pack to determine if it can be worn again, or must be abandoned. Okay, it's back on, not pressing on the broken ribs.
Ahead was the downclimb of a broken buttress to get back to a trail that leads up and over another peak, then down, then finally up to the car. Then ten miles of driving the dirt road bringing sensations like getting hit with a hammer at every rut.
So the ribs are broken in back and sprained where they group together in the front. Sleeping must be done flat on the back and things like coughing or sneezing or laughing are to be avoided. Normal breathing is okay, but any deep breaths stretch the ribs. Ouch.
Things are better. It's been three weeks since the wreck. Activities have already included things they shouldn't. But donning a heavily-loaded full pack for any weeklong treks into the high country? Next year. The anniversary re-ascents not completed before the lil' wreck in the rocks? Next year.
Meanwhile, a situation in the cyber realm developed just before leaving for Nevada in early July, and it's gotten far worse through all ensuing events and is still unresolved.
The old "TiedToTheTracks" email address, dating back to the days of our award-winning Los Angeles roots-Americana-music radio show? Sadly, it is no more. It exceeded capacity by many orders of magnitude. It now bounces messages. Its old toolbar is gone, so nothing much can be done with it. I can't even transfer its massive address book to another account. And the old solution to everything -- getting a human person on the phone at Microsoft and sufficiently bribing their employer to fix what's wrong -- well, that no longer works because you cannot contact a human person. These days the only available protocol is to follow some online protocol for something the missing control functions do not permit. Make the sign of the cross and dig a hole in the cyber landscape.
So our new email address for all purposes is:
news-events-perspectives@outlook.com
Send us word of your gigs, festivals, workshops, new album releases, collaborations, studio inspirations, creative epiphanies, clever or deeply moving lyrics, and whatever you think will delight or inform our community of artists and music fans, and we will celebrate with you from afar. We'll try to share your news with others, too. And ya never know: perhaps we will even be there when you tell us about something impending. We DO make appearances, at some point, before or after climbing some lofty promontory that beckons irresistibly.
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Festivals...
Sep 23-25, 2022, FESTIVAL, in Torrance, CA:
Annual "Los Angeles International Ukulele Festival" returns post-pandemic, with Saturday main events at Torrance Cultural Arts Center, 3330 Civic Center Dr, Torrance, CA 90503
Main Event: Sat, Sep 24, 9:30 am-6 pm.
Ukulele virtuosos Andrew Molina & Brittni Paiva kick-off the festival Friday evening at the George Nakano Theatre. You can also head over to the nearby Grand Annex in San Pedro for a Sunday afternoon concert & play-along for the whole family.
"These folks manage to pack so many fantastic ukulele performances and workshops throughout Southern California's Torrance Cultural Arts Center — a modern complex that includes meeting rooms, visual and performing arts studios, a concert space, two outdoor plazas, and even a Japanese garden."
~ Ukulele magazine (https://ukulelemagazine.com)
* Tix, $20 - $47, at kalakoa.tix.com or link below.
* Full info: losangelesukulelefestival.com
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The GUIDE's pick for the best festival bargain of 2022 !
Fri-Sun, Oct 7-9, 2022, FESTIVAL:
44th HUCK FINN JUBILEE, a celebration of Bluegrass, returns after the pandemic, at Bonelli Bluffs RV Resort & Campground, 1440 Camper View Rd, San Dimas CA 91773
Outstanding lineup of national artists includes OLD SALT UNION, MILE TWELVE, LAURIE LEWIS & THE RIGHT HANDS, FIRESIDE COLLECTIVE, CHICKEN WIRE EMPIRE, ROSE'S PAWN SHOP, WATER TOWER, SHAKEDOWN STRING BAND, HONEY BUCKETS, THE DUSTY GREEN BONES BAND, THE STORYTELLERS, THE WHOLE HOG BAND, THE FANCIES, and more.
Artists and bands listening link: https://huckfinn.com/artists/
* REALLY, REALLY IMPORTANT: You MUST purchase your tickets and parking passes at least ONE WEEK before the show. No tickets or parking passes available on-site!
* Tix & info: http://huckfinn.com
* Ticket options start with a 3-day pass for $115, or single-day tix for Friday, $45; Saturday, $75; Sunday, $30, in addition to Parking, $15/day. For camping options (which put you there for all the acoustic jams!) are extensive; tabs at the link.
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Oct 16, in Irvine, CA:
"OUTLAW MUSIC FESTIVAL" is "A WILLIE NELSON & Family-curated festival road show that wraps up in Irvine" and includes performances by Nelson, The Avett Brothers, Black Pumas, Larkin Poe and Particle Kid. There will also be an Outlaw Vendor Village, games, food trucks and more.
It happens at 4 pm in the FivePoint Amphitheatre, 14800 Chinon, Irvine, CA.
* Tix, $29.50-$129.50
* More info: LiveNation.com
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Festivals are not created equal, or affordable...
Before you grouse about increased ticket prices for 2022 and 2023 folk / bluegrass / Americana / roots / blues / acoustic festivals? Have a peek at THIS take-a-second-mortgage omnibus festival...
Nov 18-20, 2022, in San Diego:
"Wonderfront Music Festival" has "over 80 artists" performing across seven stages and three days all along the waterfront in downtown San Diego.
Performers include Zac Brown Band, Young the Giant, Kings of Leon, G-Eazy, Lauren Daigle, Gwen Stefani, Cage the Elephant, Big Boi and many more.
Runs Fri, 11/18, 2:30-10 pm; Sat & Sun, 11/19-20/22, Noon-10 pm.
Venues include Embarcadero Marina Park North, Seaport Village, Ruocco Park and Broadway Port Pier.
* Tix: Single-day passes are $139-$499; Two-day passes are $265-$999; Three-day passes are $359-$1,399.
* More info: wonderfrontfestival.com
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For OUR money, a $1,399 admission pass to a three-day festival makes it thoroughly avoidable. Just think of how many concert tix, tanks of gas, pre-concert dinners, and parking fees that can be bought over the course of a whole year for that same amount of money! So, you won't see us at "Wonderfront Music Fest."
Instead, look for us multiple times at McCabe's, the Coffee Gallery Backstage, Grand Annex, Folk Music Center, the Fret House, Fiddlers Crossing, Hotel Cafe, and proven fun-affordable fests like Topanga Banjo•Fiddle next May, Dylanfest and the Ukulele fest and the Cajun-blues fests next year, along with Santa Clarita Cowboy, and the Bluegrass fests in San Dimas, and Victorville (if they get that all those restarted in 2023); plus, we are overdue to return to the Live Oak fest on the Central Coast.
Now, add-up tix for ALL those things -- AFFORDABLE festivals, concerts, coffee houses, musical events, fun, and tuneage stretched through a whole year. Then let us know if a single trip to a $1,399 fest -- PLUS your additional outlay for three-nights of big city hotel lodging AND all the meals there, AND multiple downtown city parking fees for that ONE multivenue festival, are more appealing to you. Seriously, make an argument for indulging in a thousand-dollar-plus ticket to a mega-festival, and we'll print it!
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This weekend in the venues...
Fri, Sep 23, 8 pm:
LOVE DOLLY (A TRIBUTE TO DOLLY PARTON) at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena CA
LOVE DOLLY is the #1 Dolly Parton tribute act on the West Coast. Show business veteran Kim Eberhardt and her terrific band perform beloved hits of country legend Dolly Parton brilliantly. Yep, she sings and talks like Dolly.
Tix, $20, reservations (626) 798-6236. More info, coffeegallery.com
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Sat, Sep 24, 8 pm:
REBECCA PIDGEON & TAMMY FAYE STARLITE play McCabe's, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Rebecca Pidgeon is an award-winning actress, singer, and songwriter best known for her long résumé in television, film, and theater (in particular for the plays of her husband David Mamet). Beginning in the late '80s, her artful, self-penned songs and unassuming, crystalline voice are equally acclaimed if not as widely known.
Her repertoire features film music, Celtic folk, and classy urban Americana. She issued her solo debut ,"The Raven," in 1994. Her 2005 album "Tough on Crime" initiated her multi-album working relationship with Grammy-winning producer Larry Klein. 2008’s "Behind the Velvet Curtain" included four songs used in the film "Redbelt." She set up her own label for 2011’s "Slingshot" — another collaboration with Klein who produced and, along with David Batteau, co-wrote all but one song: a cover of Warren Zevon‘s “Searching for a Heart.” 2014’s "Bad Poetry" preceded a five-year recording break. She made up for lost time in the summer of 2019 with the double-album "Sudden Exposure to Light."
Tammy Faye Starlite, the bold and inventive alt-cabaret singer, has earned critical acclaim and opens.
* Masks & Vaccination cards required.
* Tix, $24, online only at mccabes.com ; Ticketing Fee $4.75, Total Payable Amount $28.75.
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Sat, Sep 24, 8 pm:
PRETZEL LOGIC -- A STEELY DAN REVUE plays the Grand Annex, 434 W 6th St, San Pedro CA 90731; (310) 833-4813; https://grandvision.org
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Sun, Sep 25, 2-5 pm matinee:
"Ohana Ukulele Family Sunday" at the Grand Annex, 434 W 6th St, San Pedro CA 90731; (310) 833-4813; https://grandvision.org
This is the final day of the 2022 LA International Ukulele Festival – come jam with your friends, family and and other ukulele enthusiasts at this afternoon of family fun featuring performances and audience strum-alongs with Lise Lee, Bernadette Plazola, Alissa Hunicutt and others.
BERNADETTE PLAZOLA started her ukulele YouTube channel, Bernadette Teaches Music, while she was teaching elementary music in Okinawa, Japan, creating instructional music videos for teachers and students. Now with over 400,000 subscribers, her channel has inspired many ukulele players around the world. LISE LEE is in high demand. She’s been performing throughout California and Hawaii since 2015 at events including the LA International Ukulele Festival, Aloha Concert Series, Heritage of Aloha Festival as well as at the Marriott Waikiki, and at Disney’s Aulani Resort. ALISSA HUNNICUT has made a name for herself in the ukulele festival circles as a singer/storyteller alternative folk artist and an accomplished puppeteer. She draws from her acting and musical training to bring new life to songs with her thoughtful ukulele arrangements.
Plus special appearances by finger-style player Timmy Cruz and vocalist Abby Lyons.
* Tix, $5 youth, $23 adult; $140 to rent the entire VIP table. Link above. More in our "Festivals" section.
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This coming week...
Mon, Sep 26, 7-8 pm:
Team Taiko
Japanese Drum Lessons at the Grand Annex, 434 W 6th St, San Pedro CA 90731; (310) 833-4813; https://grandvision.org
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Thu, Sep, 29, 8 pm:
RUPERT WATES AND DAN O’SULLIVAN play the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena CA
Rupert Wates has won over 50 songwriting and performing awards. In 2018 he performed as a Finalist in the Kerrville New Folk Song Contest, and an Emerging Artist at Falconridge Folk Festival. He was voted ‘Artist Of The Year’ by the Listening Room Network in both 2013 and 2016. More than 25 of his songs have been covered by other artists, including two full length tribute albums to his material recorded by independent artists in Nashville and Los Angeles. He has released 10 solo albums, tracks from which have been played on radio worldwide. He averages 120 live shows a year, in every state in the US, in Canada and in Europe. Colorado Central Magazine describes his songs as ‘sublime folk hymns’, while Folk And Acoustic Music Exchange adds ‘this is one gifted s.o.b…if you’re not hip to this guy you’re missing out’.
Daniel O'Sullivan is an English artist of Irish ancestry, multi-instrumentalist and composer from Manchester, England, best known for playing in experimental art-rock bands.
* Tix, $20, reservations (626) 798-6236. More info, coffeegallery.com
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Fri, Sep 30, 8 pm:
ASTRAL MIXTAPE, multifaceted band of LA-based musicians, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena CA
Original compositions and arrangements synthesize today's music with classical instrumental virtuosity, joyfully combining the spectacle of pop, the spontaneity of jazz, and the experimentation of contemporary music. Since forming in 2020, Astral Mixtape has performed in eclectic venues across the US and Canada.
* Tix, $20, reservations (626) 798-6236. More info, coffeegallery.com
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Sat, Oct 1, 2 pm matinee:
HENRY ZHAO brings his live album taping to the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena CA
The L.A. Americana-roots music scene's quickly-rising young songwriter
Raised in the suburbs of Arcadia, he released his first eponymous debut album in 2019 with the help of Grammy-nominated Chad Watson as producer and on bass.
His Dylan-inspired vocals and harmonica interspersed lyrics have impressed folk legends like '60s era troubadour Eric Andersen, and Scarlet Rivera, Bob Dylan's violinist and close friend, who told him "You made Bob Dylan proud."
* Tix, $20, reservations (626) 798-6236. More info, coffeegallery.com
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Sat, Oct 1, SOLD OUT
PETER CASE at McCabes. Second show added on Oct 2, see listing.
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Sun, Oct 2, 8 pm:
PETER CASE plays McCabes, 3101 Pico Bl, Santa Monica, CA 90405
Three-time Grammy nominee, Peter Case’s work sets the bar for authenticity, passion and imagination and spans a number of genres, including folk, blues, and rock. Founder of the Plimsouls, who landed a deal with Geffen Records and achieved success with the hit single “A Million Miles Away." The song landed them a role in the movie "Valley Girl," as the band performing during the club scenes.
Case’s 1986 solo Geffen Record debut revealed deep roots in folk and blues, and earned him his first Grammy nomination for the song “Old Blue Car” as well as the Number 1 spot on the NY Time’s 1986 Best CDs list. Six CDs later, Case earned another nomination for "Let Us Now Praise Sleepy John," a remarkable collection of songs that features Case’s voice and a single guitar.
By then it was unquestionable that Case is a major talent on the Americana troubadour landscape. Case’s 2010 CD, "Wig!" emphasized the rock and blues side of Case’s repertoire, and live, with or without a backing band, Case delivers his songs with both intense passion and introspective nuance.
* Masks and Vaccination cards required to attend.
* Tix, $34, online only at mccabes.com ; Ticketing Fee $4.75, Total Payable Amount $38.75.
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Farther ahead...
Sat, Oct 8, 7 pm:
CLAUDIA NYGAARD plays the final 2022 concert in the Fiddlers Crossing Summer-Fall outdoor series in Tehachapi CA.
* Tix, https://www.fiddlerscrossing.com (via an email invitation by using the site's "contact form")
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Sun, Oct 16, 2022, live online concert, 4 pm:
JOHN McCUTCHEON, celebrating 50 years as a folk music icon, returns to the Pasadena Folk Music Society with another four-show series of live streamed concerts similar to those he presented there lastspring.
Oct 16 is an all-request show, enriched by McCutcheon’s telling the stories behind the songs. Ticket buyers can request a song.
John McCutcheon continues the series Sun, Nov 13, debuting several songs he has co-written with Tom ("Last Thing on My Mind") Paxton in the past two years and showcase one that’s already been released to worldwide acclaim: "Ukrainian Now."
The series finale is Sun, Dec. 11, with “Winter Solstice: A Holiday Concert with John McCutcheon."
Ticket-holders get links for watching the shows live and also for replay any time in the 48 hours afterwards. The replay option allows enjoying the show a second time, or with pauses on-demand to catch the wonderful lyrics better.
A portion of the ticket sales benefit the Pasadena Folk Music Society, to help cover costs of returning with future in-person concerts at Caltech in Pasadena, CA.
Series producers say, "We are partnering with John for this series as we did for some well-received online shows last spring. From those live streams, we know we can expect smooth audio-visual logistics and an enjoyable show, almost as if sitting in McCutcheon’s living room with him."
* Tix: regular single-concert ticket price is $20, plus $4.60 in fees. The bundled ticket for the remaining three shows is $50, plus $11.50 in fees. Lower single-ticket prices are available for students and unemployed people. Other options include “family/household” and “music supporter” tickets.
* Info & tix at: https://pasadenafolkmusicsociety.org
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Oct 23, 2022, 5:30 pm:
JOHN DOE plays the Zebulon Cafe, 2478 Fletcher Dr, Los Angeles, CA 90039
He has recorded 8 solo records with numerous renowned singers and players, recently including Patty Griffin, Dan Auerbach, Aimee Mann, Don Was, Kathleen Edwards and Greg Liesz. That follows his long ago leadership of the band X.
He has appeared in over 50 films and television productions, with some of his most notable roles in "Road House," "Georgia," "Roadside Prophets," "Great Balls of Fire," "Pure Country," and "Roswell." He continues to act these days but more sporadically as his touring schedule has become more demanding. Other musical side projects include work with the Knitters, Jill Sobule and The Sadies. He continues to write poetry and has even taught workshops from time to time. He currently lives in Austin, TX.
* Tix start at $30.90 at https://zebulon.la ; hurry, this will sell-out early.
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IMPORTANT REMINDER
Check your VOTER REGISTRATION while there's still time. You can do it easily online by typing-in "check voter regustration" and your city and state. You may need to re-register. Or if you have never been registered, it's time to change that.
Certain interests with ultra-rich backers are VERY actively engaged in purging voters from registration rolls, nationwide. There has never been anything like it in the United States of America in our lifetimes -- though the U.S. state of Georgia, four years ago, gave the registration purgers the model they are now using nationwide. It's all about winning by rigging the game. Only it isn't a game. It's power and control and who will wield it against the interests -- and for their self-serving wealth-grabbing -- at the expense of the rest of us.
The planet has a rapidly diminishing window to stop runaway climate change. Yet some interests continue to deny that it is happening at all, and will profit from despoiling the entire world unless we, the people, stop them.
Subterfuge, distraction, diversion, denial, Big Lies, outlandishly outrageous claims, every unimaginably ridiculous premise, exploitation of differences through scares and fears, and, when all that fails, overt threats against all who disagree, are the leading tactics of those who don't want you to vote.
Whether your top concerns are reproductive freedom or a future worth having and handing-off to future generations, or something else entirely, it all comes down to one thing: democracy must be preserved, defended, nurtured, and ultimately protected from those who would trample it. Ignore that, and fascism replaces democracy.
Check your VOTER status, and be sure you are qualified and thoroughly informed to vote this November. This is the most important "midterm" election cycle in 90 years, and the most consequential we may ever face.
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