Acoustic Americana Music Guide & News, Oct 1-12 (and way into 2011)
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Let’s begin with the quick and easy stuff, new features in this edition…
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* QUICKIE “TIME SAVER” – our new FAST ACCESS LIST to THIS WEEKEND’S “Show-of-the-Week” picks – the best concerts, festivals, club gigs, free shows, and more! It’s the #1 News Feature, just below…
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Plus,
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* QUICK LINKS to our FALL FESTIVAL SEASON’s detailed features…
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* “FALL FESTIVALS ALMANAC” – UPDATED at
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-festivals-almanac-summers-last.html
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and our
* ANNUAL GUIDE TO MUSIC AT THE L.A. COUNTY FAIR, through October 3, at
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/09/guide-to-la-county-fairs-music-more.html
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Of course, MORE NEWLY-ADDED EVENTS (some happening NOW, some soon, and some are here waaaay in advance) plus lots MORE, are all in the latest edition of the Guide, as always! Just consider October is Rocktober, even in the land of acoustica. There’s an abundance of music indoors and still a bit outdoors throughout the month.
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Tied to the Tracks
ACOUSTIC AMERICANA
MUSIC GUIDE
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OCTOBER 1 through 12 edition (and way into 2011)
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NEWS FEATURES
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…in this edition:
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1) FAST ACCESS LIST: THIS WEEKEND’S “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” PICKS…
2) ENTER OUR “SONGWRITER’S CHALLENGE” FOR FIRE PREVENTION WEEK
3) WE’D LIKE YOU TO MEET… JOE CRAVEN (matinee show in L.A., Sun, Oct 3)
4) 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ICE HOUSE, & FOLK MUSIC IS BACK! Sun, Oct 3
5) A FESTIVAL-RICH ENVIRONMENT IN EARLY OCTOBER (starting Saturday!)
6) FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP; DRINKING SOFT DRINKS ONSTAGE, OR AT A GIG?
7) KENNY EDWARDS MEMORIAL & BENEFIT CONCERT, OCTOBER 9
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1) FAST ACCESS LIST: THIS WEEKEND’S “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” PICKS…
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FRIDAY, OCTOBER 1’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks:
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* 7 pm FOY WILLING’S RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE, featuring CODY BRYANT, performing at the Sherman Oaks Presbyterian Church concert series.
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* 7:30 pm LEDWARD KAAPANA plays the “Lord of the Strings” concert series at the Dana Point Community House.
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* 8 pm BOYD & WAIN at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 2’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks:
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* 9 am-10 pm annual “SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA UKULELE FESTIVAL” with featured artists VICTORIA VOX, “D HAWAII” SENIORS, THE JUMPING FLEAS, UNCLE LINCOLN’S UKULELE, HAWAIIAN LEGEND SERENADERS, MELE O’HANA UKULELE GROUP, ALDRINE GUERRERO, FRED THOMPSON and many more, at Cerritos Park East Community Center; complete with luau.
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* Annual “HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS FEST” in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Sat & Sun, Oct 2 & 3,
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* 5-10 pm SMALL POTATOES, CHAUNCY BOWERS, LISA TURNER, ERIC SCHWARTZ, DAVE MORRISON, OLD BULL play the “Topanga Acoustic Music Series” at the Topanga Community House in Topanga Canyon.
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* 7 pm BORDER RADIO at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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* 7:30 pm LEDWARD KAAPANA plays a second show for the “Lord of the Strings” concert series, this time at the Mission Viejo Civic Center.
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* 8 pm MARINA V plays a benefit show for the American Cancer Society to celebrate her birthday, “with cake and prizes,” at the Hotel Café in Hollywood. She’s…
splendid (and you thought we would tell you how old she is).
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* 8 pm HAYES CARLL plus special guest BONNIE WHITMORE at McCabe’s, 3101 Pico Bl (Pico at 31st), Santa Monica
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* 8 pm JENNI ALPERT plays her CD release show for “Underneath the Surface” at The Witz End, a brand-new L.A. venue.
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* 8 pm “VIVA MEXICO! 50th ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION” with acclaimed Spanish-language singers ANGELES OCHOA and PERLA BATALLA joining NATI CANO and MARIACHI LOS CAMPEROS at UCLA Live in Royce Hall on the UCLA campus.
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SUNDAY, OCTOBER 3’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks:
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* 1 pm JOE CRAVEN, perennial performing emcee of both the LIVE OAK MUSIC FESTIVAL and the MILLPOND MUSIC FESTIVAL, is playing a short-notice SUNDAY MATINEE at the Coffee Gallery Backstage (he’s available thanks to the sudden cancellation of the AMERICANA MUSIC FEST, previously scheduled for today.) Joe has every major credential anyone can earn in music, from bluegrass to, well, “name-it.” You’ve never seen anything like Joe unless you’ve seen Joe, and if you’ve seen him more than once, you know that he ALWAYS brings fresh innovations that get the entire audience involved and leaves them giddy. You can wait ‘til next year’s festival season and see him across a huge crowd and great distance, or you can see him perform today, from a few feet away… (see this week’s “We’d Like You to Meet… Joe Craven” – our #3 News Feature).
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* 6 pm “BOB STANE RETURNS WITH FOLK MUSIC FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ICE HOUSE,” at The Ice House in Pasadena.
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* Annual “HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS FEST” in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco, Sat & Sun, Oct 2 & 3.
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* CANCELLED: First-ever “AMERICANA MUSIC FESTIVAL” was to have been sponsored by the Thousand Oaks Kiwanis Charitable Foundation at Paramount Ranch near Agoura Hills, but the sponsor pulled the plug on it…
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* CANCELLED: 7 pm PIETA BROWN at McCabe’s in Santa Monica.
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.* The DUO-TONES, surf guitar legends from two different bands, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage at 7 pm.
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See the Guide’s complete EVENTS listings for all the details.
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2) ENTER OUR “SONGWRITER’S CHALLENGE” FOR FIRE PREVENTION WEEK
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Early each October is FIRE PREVENTION WEEK. There are plenty of songs about fire, and many that need to be written. Fire is primordial, from Prometheus to the vital hearth of the cave or earliest village, to the tragedy of the bigots who burned the great library of Alexandria. There’s Buck Owens singing “Ring of Fire.” There are Torch Songs. There’s the band ARCADE FIRE. There’s the BLACK IRISH BAND’s tribute album to firefighters, “Into the Fire.” Think about it for even a moment and you’ll surely be able to list a half-dozen other musical references to fire.
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So, here’s OUR CHALLENGE FOR ALL YOU SONGWRITERS. It’ll get your “fire song(s)” some exposure right away, and bring you a chance to win a prize later in October.
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a) FIRST, WRITE ONE (OR MORE) “FIRE SONGS” AND RECORD THEM IN ANY FORM THAT CAN BE POSTED ON THE WEB, AUDIO-ONLY OR VIDEO.
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b) THEN, SEND US THE URL FOR YOUR SONG (OR SONGS) ABOUT FIRE OR FIREFIGHTERS AND WHERE IT CAN BE HEARD ON THE WEB (audio or video). We’ll post it in a special section that’ll run through the whole Southern California fire watch season. Be sure to include the NAME of the song, the GENRE, and the names of the SONGWRITER(s) and MUSICIAN(s) performing the song. ALL GENRES are welcome for this one, but you need to tell us the genre(s) of your song(s). We’re extending the deadline until OCTOBER 12 to get your song info to us.
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Make the subject of your email “FIRE SONG” and send the necerssary info to us at tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com
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Send urls (with info) for as many of your original “fire song” as you want. You can send the info for one song, or for as many songs as you want, in each email you send. But remember to title each email, “FIRE SONG.”
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b) WHEN WE HAVE ALL THE “FIRE SONG” ENTRIES LISTED, we’ll have a GUIDE READER’S CONTEST TO PICK THE TOP THREE SONGS, with PRIZES and nifty “winner” certificates for the three top-rated songs! So get busy, get the recorded performances of your songs posted someplace accessible, and send us the required info and the url so everyone can start hearing (or watching) YOUR song(s)!
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Here are some notes about FIRE PREVENTION WEEK that may help inspire you to write a new song, or simply help to keep you and yours safe…
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First, we hope this holds special significance for Southern Californians in the midst of an ongoing drought, surrounded as we are by bone-dry hillsides of chaparral. The picturesque local hills – that is, the ones that didn’t turn into the surface of the moon from last year’s notorious and devastating “Station Fire” – are as much a backdrop and source of enjoyment here as our beaches, and just as much in need of our mindful protection. Firefighters made incredible stands during the endless weeks of the Station Fire conflagration, skillfully and miraculously saving the historic and scientifically irreplaceable Mt. Wilson Observatory (several important observatories in the complex), along with virtually all of L.A.’s TV and radio transmission towers. (The editor, who went up there just after the fire was out, can tell you it burned within, literally, a scant few feet of the observatory’s irreplaceable structures.)
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We need to be mindful of all the gratitude we feel for our firefighters in times of crisis, and to remember that gratitude when government looks at ways to cut budgets. We need to remember the firefighters from other states and other taxpayer-supported jurisdictions who came from all over the nation to fight Southern California’s Station Fire. Of course, the memories of firefighters on 9/11, and who came from everywhere in its long and painful aftermath, are ingrained in the annals of civilization. And we should be mindful that each time a fire bell rings, it signifies a life-and-death matter for somebody, somewhere.
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Brush and wild land fires aside, each year there are 550,000 RESIDENTIAL FIRES in the US (nearly all preventable) and these cost taxpayers billions of dollars. So, before your mind turns to haunting your neighborhood for Halloween, help make sure the neighborhood will still be there. Take a little time to be aware and proactive for fire prevention.
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For starters, CHANGE THE BATTERIES IN YOUR SMOKE DETECTORS. Daylight Savings time began earlier and extends later this year, so if “time change day” is when you usually change those batteries, they may not last that long this time around.
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Get proactive for fire prevention, then, enter your “fire song(s)” to get exposure, recognition, and a shot at prizes in the Guide’s contest!
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3) WE’D LIKE YOU TO MEET… JOE CRAVEN (matinee show in L.A. Sun, Oct 3)
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The Guide has used the term “musical genius” very sparingly over the years. Maybe three or four times. JOE CRAVEN is a genuine musical genius. He is downright compelling on stage, and that’s landed him perennial performing emcee roles at both the LIVE OAK MUSIC FESTIVAL and the MILLPOND MUSIC FESTIVAL. Joe plays a short-notice Sunday matinee at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena. He suddenly became available, on very short notice, thanks to the last-minute cancellation of the AMERICANA MUSIC FEST, previously scheduled for the same day.
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When Joe played an L.A. tour in June, the show was billed as “JOE CRAVEN PRESENTS ‘JAWBONES, CANJOES, AND CAKEPANS; THE WORLD OF JOE CRAVEN.’” That crazy title was most appropriate. Trust us, the guy can play anything. Hand him something and within seconds it’s a musical instrument.
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Joe Craven has every major credential anyone can earn in music, from bluegrass to, well, “name-it.” You’ve never seen anything like Joe unless you’ve seen Joe, and if you’ve seen him more than once, you know that he ALWAYS brings fresh innovations that get the entire audience involved. And he leaves ’em giddy. When we wrote the description for his show this Sunday, we wrote, “You can wait ‘til next year’s festival season and see him across a huge crowd and great distance, or see him perform today, from a few feet away… Joe Craven is a very big deal act. Go see him. Highly recommended.”
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If you’ve attended the festivals where he emcees, you may think you know him. But he is so much more.
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JOE CRAVEN is widely celebrated as an alum of the top award-winning bluegrass band, the DAVID GRISMAN QUINTET. For almost 17 years, Joe was their highly respected multi-instrumentalist, holding a challenging post as Grisman’s percussionist and fiddler, sometimes swatting backbeats and trading licks on mandolin next to the great mandolinist Grisman – at times, doing all that within one tune.
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Mandolin Magazine calls Joe “One of the most daringly inventive musicians working today.”
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JOE CRAVEN received the FAR-West Folk Alliance 2009 “Best of the West” award for good reason. He is an inspired musical madman, coaxing melodies and rhythms from anything that has strings attached – or not – including violins, mandolins, tin cans, bedpans, gas cans, cookie tins, chamberlains, tenor guitars, panitars, mouthbows, charangos, banjos, canjoes, cuatros, bongos, buckets, berimbau, bundt pans, balalaikas, brake drums, bells, bottles, brush ‘n box, oud, hambone, jawbone, water jugs, triangles, cajons, cymbals, spoons, ukuleles, and quite literally anything within reach. He might perform with boot ‘n lace, animal bones, squeeze toys, cake pans, waste cans, umbrella stands, martini shakers. He’ll even give you a brief dissertation on the musical merits of Holiday Inn vs. Marriott hotel room wastebaskets, then demonstrate it.
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AcousticMusic.com wrote, “A multi-virtuoso, Joe Craven displays a dazzling set of fiery chops on a literal cornucopia of instruments.”
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Joe is a musical madman with anything that has strings attached, or not. Picture a stage that looks more like a yard sale; found objects from the natural environment as well as junk scrounged from dumpsters, yard sales and thrift stores. Throw-in string and percussion instruments from around the world and around the house. Connect all of it with a dash of technology, involving plugging-in electrified bedpans and balalaikas and looping landscapes of sound – all created in the moment by Joe. Then toss the whole thing like rhythmic salad bar, with some corny jokes, storytelling, a little theater thickener, a pinch of audience participation and – voila! Welcome to “The Joe Show.”
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Joe is equally famous for displaying his joy through any musical workout. He’s made a wide range of music with a wide range of artists, from legendary jazz violinist STEPHANE GRAPPELLI (the HOT CLUB DE FRANCE band mate of STEPHANE GRAPELLI) to GRATEFUL DEAD guitarist JERRY GARCIA, to the ALISON BROWN QUARTET, MARIA MULDAUR, VASSAR CLEMENTS, PSYCHOGRASS, ROB ICKES, THE PERSUASIONS, and many, many others.
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All Music Guide states the obvious: “It is rare to find a musician with such talent…”
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Joe has made contributions to several Grammy-nominated projects and performed music and sound effects on a wide variety of recordings, commercials, soundtracks, and computer games. As an educator, Joe’s clinics, his “Playshops,” and his camp and school presentations on music participation have all captivated audiences around the country. He’s worked with students from preschool to adult in a variety of settings – and even taught Coffee Gallery Backstage impresario Bob Stane to play a fiddle riff accompaniment, on the spot. Bob says he had never before laid a finger on a fiddle, nor ever played any instrument before that – except the house lights and mixing board. Bob still calls the experience “astounding.”
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“Joe Craven’s fiddle and mandolin playing are outstanding.” – Fiddler Magazine.
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Joe Craven is not just an entertaining musician with a penchant for the mischievous, he is a teacher and student, all at once, and he draws you into his performance by including you – as though you’re part of the show itself. Joe is always looking for the next expression or breath or object to adapt or apply to making music. Add to that his preciously rare gift of gab (Bob Stane calls that “unprecedented”) and his musical knowledge. Joe’s openness and expression of gratitude for the gifts he’s been given make it all the more fun for him to share with his audience.
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Paste Magazine says, “Joe Craven’s playing will make your jaw drop in wonder and amazement. He’ a dazzling soloist, his virtuosity matched by his ability to swing.”
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Joe’s award from the FAR West Folk Alliance is the organization’s highest honor for an artist. Previous recipients have included The Kingston Trio, Rosalie Sorrels, U. Utah Phillips, and Lowen & Navarro. Joe’s award came at the same time and place where Coffee Gallery Backstage impresario Bob Stane received the FAR West Ambassador Award, the organization’s highest honor for non-musicians.
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Sunday’s short-notice matinee reunites them in the same room. Hmm, Joe has already taught Bob to play the fiddle in one three minute lesson. Who and what will Joe teach – and Joe would add, learn – this time?
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Joe’s show is Sunday, October 3, at 1 pm, and of course it’s a Guide “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick. It’s at the Coffee Gallery Backstage (“the venue named in FolkWorks as L.A.’s best intimate acoustic listening room venue”), 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena 91001. More info at www.coffeegallery.com. Reservations are strongly recommended at 626-794-2424. Tix, $18.
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4) 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ICE HOUSE, & FOLK MUSIC IS BACK! Sun, Oct 3
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We never thought we’d see it. The ICE HOUSE, the internationally-known COMEDY club, going back to its folk music roots? Well, it’ll happen, for just one night, this Sunday, October 3, at 6 pm, when “BOB STANE RETURNS WITH FOLK MUSIC FOR THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE ICE HOUSE.” Bob Stane, the man who presided over the world of folk music at Pasadena’s famous venue, invites you to share the anniversary of “50 years of music and mirth” with him. Of course, it’s a Guide “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick.
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There was a full page in The San Gabriel Tribune (Star-News) Friday, Oct 1, telling all about it. A Big Deal.
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Bob Stane, longtime former impresario of world famous ICE HOUSE, operated it with both comedy AND folk music. Young whippersnappers like Jay Leno and Gallagher and David Letterman got their starts there, sharing the lineups with THE NEW CHRISTY MINSTRELS and dozens of now big-name folkies. Of course, these days, Bob is the impresario of the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, booking folk acts almost seven nights a week.
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Bob says, “The celebration and recognition starts with my show on Sunday at 6 pm, clear through the giant show at The Pasadena Civic. Check out the Pasadena Civic Show, Sunday, October 10. Star Studded. The Ice House will be kicking-off the 50th Anniversary Week with a sample of the folk music and comedy that started the club 50 years ago.”
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Accordingly, this Sunday, Oct 3, Bob Stane “will gather some of his musical cohorts to sing, play and amuse with wild and wonderful comedy and song. We will have fun. That’s what it is all about.”
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STEVE STAPENHORST , for whom JOHN DENVER once opened, starts the evening, as Bob says, “with a few songs making light of the generation and the highly skilled acoustic folks still surviving and prospering in the night live 50 years later. It will be appropriate to the Anniversary.”
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WILL RYAN & the CACTUS COUNTY COWBOYS are the headline act and, Bob asserts, “the ‘cowboys’ portion of the title thinly disguises what it really is, and that is acoustic vaudeville, with ‘the boys’ [and Katie] doing wild and wacky things with songs and strange instruments. [They’re] ‘The Band that Won the West!’ or how it was almost lost. Individually, they’ve played throughout the United States, as well as the United Kingdom, and that crazy place where all those French people live! Collectively, they’ve been in Show Biz for over 15 minutes!”
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This band is “The Official Cowboy Band of Hollywood,” and the players are:
* WILL RYAN – The King of the Radio Cowboys! Winner of the BMI Pioneer Award, Will’s written songs for the Muppets, Disney characters, Patti LaBelle and that well-known crooner Mr. T.
* “WESTY” WESTENHOFER – The Paderewski of the Tuba! The Ace of the Bass! The Dr. Seuss of the Sousaphone! Co-inventor of “Bi-Labial Fricitation.”
* JOHN “PRESTO” REYNOLDS – The Einstein of the Six-String, the Picasso of the Plectrum, the Feoranzo of the Frets, and co-inventor of “Bi-Labial Fricitation.”
* “CHAPARALL KATIE” CAVERA – The Ingrid Bergman of the Banjo, the Meg Ryan of the Minstrel-Balalaika, the gal who makes you say “WAH-HOO!”
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IAN WHITCOMB may join them, as he has at some of their Coffee Gallery shows.
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These individual musicians have been Hollywood stalwarts for years in movies and television, doing everything from “on camera” to songwriting and voiceovers. Top Talent.
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For a nominal $10 you can visit how it used to be, and how The Ice House first came to be on the national stage. Bob Stane, one of the two original owners “way back when, ” will host. It is in the late afternoon and will wind up about 7:45 pm.
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Importantly, Bob adds, “Phone the Ice House for Reservations, at 626-577-1894. It’s only $10 but bear in the mind there is a 2 drink minimum. I would avoid bringing in the youngest of kids but they serve good food with (or without) the alcoholic beverages. There are great non alcoholic beverages and good food. Yes, they accept credit cards, unlike at The Coffee Gallery Backstage where we are backwards and cranky about plastic.”
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The Ice House is located at 24 N Mentor, Pasadena. There’s pay parking in various parking lots, and if you’re willing to hike, you can find free parking. Reservations are strongly recommended for this very unique night. Tix, $10.
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5) A FESTIVAL-RICH ENVIRONMENT IN EARLY OCTOBER (starting this Saturday!)
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Fall brings an avalanche of leaves to most places. Here, it brings a colorful assortment of fine and fun perennial music festivals, and a pair of tempting road trips.
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SATURDAY & SUNDAY, OCTOBER 2 & 3…
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* As October begins, the L.A. COUNTY FAIR ends Sunday in Pomona; annual guide: http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/09/guide-to-la-county-fairs-music-more.html
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* Before that, on Saturday, October 2, from 9 am-10 pm, you can enjoy the annual “SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA UKULELE FESTIVAL” with featured artists VICTORIA VOX, “D HAWAII” SENIORS, THE JUMPING FLEAS, UNCLE LINCOLN’S UKULELE, HAWAIIAN LEGEND SERENADERS, MELE O’HANA UKULELE GROUP, ALDRINE GUERRERO, FRED THOMPSON and many more, at Cerritos Park East Community Center; complete with luau.
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* Saturday, 5-10 pm, nationally-touring folkies SMALL POTATOES join a festival-like lineup with talented locals CHAUNCY BOWERS, LISA TURNER, ERIC SCHWARTZ, DAVE MORRISON, and OLD BULL, to play the “Topanga Acoustic Music Series” at the Topanga Community House in Topanga Canyon.
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Saturday & Sunday, October 2 & 3, 10 am-5:30 pm in Moorpark, the 13th annual “UNDERWOOD FAMILY FARM FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL” kicks off at Underwood Family Farms, 3370 Sunset Valley Rd, Moorpark 93021; 805-529-3690; www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com. Runs all month, and each weekend has a different theme, including a Folk Festival, Bluegrass Festival, and Cowboy/Western Music Festival.
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* If you’re ready for a road trip, the annual “HARDLY STRICTLY BLUEGRASS FEST” happens this weekend in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, Saturday & Sunday.
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FRIDAY-SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8-10…
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Saturday and Sunday bring some wonderful events that make for tough choices.
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* The weekend begins with Friday’s annual “ART NIGHT PASADENA,” 6-10 pm,
October 8. It’s a “Show-of-the-Week” pick, and it’s FREE at 14 participating galleries, museums, and cultural institutions throughout Pasadena (plus restaurant specials and impromptu participation at music venues). It offers free admission, bike tours and a free shuttle bus between and among all the venues. This is a kaleidoscope of arts and some science, a fine free night out, and you should start as early as possible to partake of as much as you can. Info, www.artcenter.edu/artnight
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* Saturday & Sunday, October 9 & 10, in Ventura, is the annual “SEASIDE HIGHLAND GAMES” and newly-added “SCOTTISH FIDDLE COMPETITION.” Headliners include ALEX BEATON, CELTIC SPRING, THE BROWNE SISTERS & GEORGE CAVANAUGH, BROTHER, and more. It’s a “Show-of-the-Week” pick, and an event we look forward to attending, year after year. It runs 9 am-5 pm at the Ventura County Fairgrounds, plus a 7:30 pm Saturday concert at the Pierpont Inn. This is a splendid event with multiple music stages, marching competition for pipe and drum bands, exhibitions of massed pipe (that’s bagpipe) bands, food of the British Isles (yes, they have haggis) and lots more. In this case, “more” notably means “large men throwing things,” including the caber toss competition – which is essentially solo competitors throwing telephone poles so that they flip, end-over-end – wherein they compete for distance. They throw boulders, too. Yes, really. The entire weekend is a major Scottish / Celtic event and draws first-rate performers – including musicians, and those large men throwing things. Event info, www.seaside-games.com or 818-886-4968.
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* Friday-Sunday, October 8-10, a road trip to the Eastern Sierra will get you to the annual “LONE PINE FILM FESTIVAL” with many events at the local museum and around town, interpretive tours of famous movie locations, and more, including a Friday evening concert (2 shows, 7 & 9 pm) with DON EDWARDS & SOURDOUGH SLIM. Schedules, concert tix (it sells-out), and complete info, at www.lonepinefilmfestival.org. Whether you go or not, check-out some Sourdough Slim performance videos:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d-kbdZUDWBM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HajY_r6RNy0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_V9NTG6cUj0
www.youtube.com/watch?v=p6aRDawFme4
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* Sunday, October 10, from 10 am-4 pm, is the 2nd annual “ORANGE COUNTY ACCORDION FESTIVAL,” aka “The Big Squeeze,” with SLUGGER O’TOOLE, CONJUNTO LOS POCHOS, LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS, and more, at Orange County Marketplace, OC Fair and Event Center in Costa Mesa. It’s a “Show-of-the-Week” pick, as the much-maligned squeezebox gets its due today in the hands of top players and bands. LISA HALEY & THE ZYDEKATS are Grammy nominees. CONJUNTO LOS POCHOS brings top Tex-Mex / Norteno / Ranchera accordion player OTONO LUJAN, with songs in English & Spanish. SLUGGER O’TOOLE is a fine, fun, high-energy Irish band that delighted the crowd a year ago at the Ford Amphitheatre. Now, if we could just get a festival like this for the banjo… A complete schedule for “The Big Squeeze” is available at the website www.ocmarketplace.com or call 949-723-6660.
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* Sunday, October 10, in Goleta, 10 am-5 pm, is the 39th annual “SANTA BARBARA OLD TIME FIDDLERS CONVENTION” featuring Grammy Award winner LAURIE LEWIS & TOM ROZUM, FOGHORN TRIO, SAUSAGE GRINDER, MOLLY’S REVENGE, STEVE JAMES, WILD ASPARAGUS, LITTLE BLACK TRAIN, TRIPLE CHICKEN FOOT, TRIO GONZALO FEATURING NICK COVENTRY, THE OLD TIME FIDDLERS and more, with lots of jamming & fun. A “Show-of-the-Week” pick, it’s at the Stow House at La Patera Ranch in Goleta. MARY KATHERINE ALDIN, host of radio’s “Alive & Picking,” has been the emcee of this event for over twenty years. Produced by Rotary Club of Santa Barbara Sunrise, all profits support the club’s local and international community service projects. Event info, www.fiddlersconvention.org; 805-450-2243.
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Saturday & Sunday, October 9 & 10, 10 am-5:30 pm in Moorpark, the 13th annual “UNDERWOOD FAMILY FARM FALL HARVEST FESTIVAL” continues at Underwood Family Farms, 3370 Sunset Valley Rd, Moorpark 93021; 805-529-3690; www.underwoodfamilyfarms.com. Runs all month, and each weekend has a different theme, including a Folk Festival, Bluegrass Festival, and Cowboy/Western Music Festival.
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Much more on each of these festivals, and more, can be found in our daily events listings. For more on this year’s fall festivals, check out our special “FALL FESTIVALS ALMANAC” – UPDATED at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/09/fall-festivals-almanac-summers-last.html
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6) FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP; DRINKING SOFT DRINKS ONSTAGE, OR AT A GIG?
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Perhaps you’ve heard or read about High Fructose Corn Syrup, aka HFCS. If Big Food has its way with the USDA, HFCS will soon be known as the more innocuous-sounding “Corn Sugar.” The stuff is in everything from Special K breakfast cereal to canned soup to pancake syrup, thanks to federal subsidies for corn farmers and corn processors, and the lack of corresponding subsidies for sugar cane and sugar beet farmers.
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Nowhere is High Fructose Corn Syrup more prevalent than in soft drinks / soda and “juice drinks.” And suddenly, HFCS is ubiquitously present in a current TV advertising campaign by “Big Food,” as we’ll collectively call all those corporate mega-giant agribusiness and food processors. Their multimillion-dollar ad campaign is currently plastering broadcast and cable TV and the web, touting how wonderful the stuff is, and claiming that “it’s just sugar,” and that “sugar is sugar.”
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Don’t fall for it. It may be true that an AMA study a few years ago said that the role of HFCS in disease was “inconclusive;” but that study’s findings went on to “encourage additional independent study,” and fortunately, that is happening.
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The stakes are big. The average American now eats 37.7 POUNDS of HFCS each year, according to the USDA. For some, that statistic lends urgency to the campaign to get soda machines out of the schools (but it’s not focused as much on HFCS-loaded “juice drinks”). And the economic dimensions of the universality of HFCS are even bigger.
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CNN featured a series of reports all this week under the banner of “Eatocracy,” citing the consumption statistic for HFCS, along with exploring food additives and processing, and more.
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But we’re going beyond their report on HFCS.
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Louisiana’s legendary cane fields have vanished, together with once-vast beet fields in California and eastern Colorado. Thousands of railroad “beet gon” (for gondola) cars have been scrapped, because there is no longer anything for them to haul. Sugar plants have shut-down, with more jobs lost, in California and Colorado. Meanwhile, corn and its enormous processing infrastructure have taken over big agribusiness in the Midwest and onto the plains states.
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ALL THOSE ADS PROMOTING “AMERICAN ETHANOL” AS THE ALTERNATIVE TO FOREIGN PETROLEUM ARE THE PRODUCT OF THE SAME GOVERNMENT CORN SUBSIDIES THAT BROUGHT YOU HFCS AND DISPLACED CANE AND BEET SUGAR – EVEN THOUGH SUGAR BEETS WOULD BE A FAR MORE EFFICIENT SOURCE OF ETHANOL THAN CORN. SO THIS IS BIG-MONEY POLITICS AND SUBSIDIES, USING YOUR TAX DOLLARS TO STACK THE DECK.
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Back to HFCS. Check the labels on soft drinks / sodas imported from Mexico, or chocolate or other candy from Europe, or those flat, round cans of Danish cookies that you’ll soon be seeing everywhere for Christmas (as long as they’re not the masquerading knock-offs from China, with their risky record of what they put in the foods they sell us without accurately telling us). You won’t find HFCS in those sweet foods and drinks from overseas. Many other governments have banned the use of HFCS in foods sold in their countries.
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But, if “sugar is sugar” and HFCS is indistinguishable, as Big Food’s ads claim, then somebody needs to explain the latest study of HFCS from Princeton University.
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This one used rats. As disgusting as that sounds, there is plenty of confirmed data for the validity of effects in rats being analogous to those in humans. The study offered the rats identical diets, except for two forms of sweet beverages. One group could drink water sweetened with sugar. The other could have water sweetened with a like amount of HFCS. The group that could have all the HFCS it wanted actually consumed less than the group that could have real sugar. But the HFCS group got fatter, on less volume consumed. Obviously, something is happening that effects metabolism.
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There are other studies, clinical and anecdotal evidence, that the ubiquity of HFCS in America’s diet is a key factor in the epidemic of obesity. Other evidence suggests that the human liver simply cannot process HFCS as it does sugar, and that may be the underlying cause of HFCS as a cause of increased appetite or of obesity, directly.
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There is no question that making your beverages with fresh fruit and molasses or honey is much healthier – unless you try to transport your “all-natural” beverage without refrigeration, enabling bacteria to grow like crazy. The closer to natural it is, the more things in nature will eat it, starting with a plethora of bacteria. (Ever notice that all kinds of insects will come after a stick of butter on a picnic table, but put a stick of margarine there and nothing will eat it – except humans?)
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Of course, Big Food’s campaign will tell you that HFCS is natural, since it’s made from corn. Uh huh, and part of the rhubarb plant makes great pie, while another part of the same plant is poisonous. Similarly, the Native American Indians ate acorns – after they leached-out all the compounds that make them inedible. Of course, processing is a two-edged sword: Big Food has genetically engineered nearly everything on the supermarket shelf, ostensibly to make it “better.” That’s why we have genetically-engineered chickens whose feet never touch the ground: they’ve been re-designed to have so much breast meat for making fast-food “nuggets” that the animals can no longer stand up, and must be raised in stainless steel cages. The cages’ sloping sections support the fowl so their heads can eat the processed feed when it’s delivered in measured shots down the sterile chutes. And put Big Food’s pesticide-coated, sulfite-processed “fresh” beefsteak tomato up against a normal-sized homegrown tomato in a taste test, and Guy Clark’s lyric rings supreme: “Only two things that money can’t buy, and that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.”
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OKAY, YOU’RE AT A GIG, AND HOW CAN THIS APPLY THERE? Many artists enjoy having something to sip (or guzzle) beneath the hot lights of a performance stage, and even more fans want something to accompany their enjoyment of a performance. If you can get past the evidence that shows chemicals leach into the drinks contained in plastic bottles, then drink water. If that alarms you, get a glass of tap water.
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Good alternative? Order unsweetened ice tea, and bring your own packet of powdered stevia, a natural plant that makes everything taste sweet. It’s in all the grocery stores.
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Most vocal coaches tell singers to stay away from sweetened and acidic drinks when they perform, not just to improve the performance, but to preserve the instrument from strain. (Though some artists and coaches will tell you that any liquid with honey is great.)
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Beyond that, artists and fans alike should consider the detrimental effects of empty calories. Even before HFCS replaced sugar in nearly all soft drinks, the average 12-ounce can of soda had between 6 and 9 teaspoons of sugar (some had up to 12). You can’t even dissolve that much sugar in a 12-ounce glass of water – unless it’s carbonated, which holds all that sugar in suspension. Imagine eating 9 teaspoons of sugar. Now imagine that it’s 9 teaspoons of HFCS, because that’s what it is, now.
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If you are smugly thinking, “Doesn’t apply to me, I drink diet soda,” then do some research. Fake sweeteners are bad news for your body, and a mountain of studies clearly show the foibles with each of their wholly-artificial long-chain molecules. Alternative? Sucralose, available generically and as the brand name of “Splenda” is the best of all fake sweeteners, since it’s made from real sugar and has a molecule severed to keep it from making you fat. But the jury may still be out on long-term effects of something that nature can’t process, even with this one. Stevia is a much better bet.
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FINALLY, THERE’S WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PULL ALL THE INFORMATION TOGETHER FOR A HOLISTIC VIEW.
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There is plenty of evidence to show that carbonated beverages block or deplete potassium and inhibit the processing of calcium in the human body – whether it comes with sugar, or “diet” fake sugar, or worst-case-scenario HFCS. Potassium and calcium work together to replenish bones, balance electrolytes, and run the body’s chemical balances, from your brain to your heart to everything else. We are aqueous electrochemical machines, and potassium and calcium are key factors. Medical researchers suspect it may be no coincidence that childhood obesity, and both juvenile and adult diabetes, AND osteoporosis in women, are ALL at record levels in America. And some of them will add their suspicion that diminished function of the liver and kidneys may be on the rise. Some point out that it’s all concurrent with the ubiquity of HFCS in the American diet (37.7 pounds per year of it, for each of us, on average).
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So, when you see those millions of dollars of ads on TV for HFCS being harmless “corn sugar,” perhaps those ads should be the catalyst for us to call our congressman. Tell him or her that you don’t want the economic clout of Big Food to be allowed (yet again) to change USDA or FDA regulations so they can deceive us or make us comfortable with ingesting things that could harm us. Government only regulates in our interest when we push the issue, to counter all the lobbying money spent by those who have big capital and want to accumulate and control more big capital, regardless of what damage they do along the way.
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7) KENNY EDWARDS MEMORIAL & BENEFIT CONCERT, OCTOBER 9
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We were saddened, together with so many others, when we had to report the news that KENNY EDWARDS was gone. On Saturday, October 9, a multi-artist show will be held to celebrate his life and music, and as a benefit.
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Kenny had so many credits and accolades. He performed at the very first official McCabe’s show in 1969 as a member of BRYNDLE, the band that featured Kenny with ANDREW GOLD, WENDY WALDMAN, & KARLA BONOFF, and he continued to collaborate and tour with Bonoff. He was on the road with her when he was taken ill and never recovered. In his long career, he was a member of the STONE PONEYS with LINDA RONSTADT (along with McCabe’s first concert director BOBBY KIMMEL). In addition to his continued work with Ms. Ronstatdt, Kenny played with just about everyone in the California roots-rock/Americana scene, including EMMYLOU HARRIS, STEVIE NICKS, J.D. SOUTHER, DON HENLEY, BRIAN WILSON, WARREN ZEVON, VINCE GILL, JENNIFER WARNES, LOWELL GEORGE, and many, many more. He last performed locally in June, at Levitt Pavilion,
Six months before that, he played his last McCabe’s show in January, opening their 2010 season. You can learn about his very full career at www.kennyedwards.com.
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In mid-August, the Guide published news that Kenny was in poor health and needed help from everyone, to get the necessary medi-ride home from Colorado to Southern California. The following week, we reported his death. We at the Guide remember him fondly, and join countless fans who miss him.
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On Saturday, October 9, at 7 pm, the “KENNY EDWARDS MEMORIAL & BENEFIT CONCERT” happens with performances by SEVERIN BROWNE, DALE LaDUKE, HAROLD PAYNE, REBECCA TROON, STEVE NOONAN, JULIE CHRISTIANSEN, BRITTA LEE SHAIN, RICH PHILLIPS, FLORENCE RIGGS, VINCE CHAFIN, JACKIE MORRIS, RICK SIMON, JAYNEE THORNE, and surprise musical guests, at the “Starlight House Concert” series in North Hills (north SFV).
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Producer JAYNEE THORNE says, “Starlight Concerts will be presenting a very special memorial celebration benefit concert for one of the truly great hearts and legendary heroes of our generation, [the late] Kenny Edwards. If you ever met Kenny or heard him perform, you know what a masterful and talented artist he was.”
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Jaynee adds, “Please bring drinks and goodies to share at our drink / dessert bar. We will be outside, so dress for possible cool weather.” A list of added performers is updated frequently at www.evite.com.
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Reservations get directions at 818-895-8414. Doors open at 7 pm for visiting with one another, and to get the best seats. Show starts at 8 pm. Proceeds go to the “Kenny Edwards Foundation.” A $15 donation, per person, is requested.
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THE LATEST FULL EDITION of the Acoustic Americana Music Guide is always available at
www.acousticmusic.net or at
www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com or by links from the News-only edition at www.nodepression.com/profile/TiedtotheTracks
or by following any of MANY links on the web to get to one of those sites.
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Entire contents copyright (c) © 2010, Larry Wines. All rights reserved.
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