Acoustic Americana Music Guide, Nov 19 to 24, & more, into 2011

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WELCOME TO THE GUIDE’s (short) NEWS-ONLY EDITION! Where we’re marking no ears and bustering no filas…
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LOTS added since last edition, including some festivals and some free shows this weekend!
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Tied to the Tracks
ACOUSTIC AMERICANA
MUSIC GUIDE
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“Short,” News-Only edition…
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NOVEMBER 19 to 24, 2010
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THIS WEEKEND’S “QUICK ACCESS” & OTHER NEWS FEATURES IN THIS EDITION…
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1) Workshop: “How To Work The Media,” for Artists & Presenters, Sat, Nov 20
2) Weekend “Show-of-the-Week” Picks, Friday-Sunday, Nov 19-21…
3) This Weekend’s Festival Scene…
4) The Guide’s “Guide” – How to Have A Marvelous Sunday…
5) 2011 “National Folk Festival” Is Worth $10-15 Million
6) “The Most Celebrated Theater In La County” Has A Music Series
7) Google’s Mistakes Have Nearly Caused Wars – The Shooting Kind
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Here are these feature stories…
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1) WORKSHOP: “How to Work the Media,” for ARTISTS & Presenters, SATURDAY, November 20
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This highly acclaimed workshop by award-winning journalist, editor, radio host / producer and music biz consultant LARRY WINES makes a surprise return. It was presented in July at the Autry National Center (Autry Museum) and in October at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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This workshop takes artists, songwriters, promoters, producers, bookers and others in the arts & music biz, step-by-step, through the techniques and processes to build your individual game plan, including how to prepare and maintain the materials you must have and the knowledge you’ll need to “work” the media effectively.
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Larry’s workshop presents much of what he teaches artists in individual consultations, and he teaches YOU many of the techniques he uses when he’s hired to prepare materials for artists, venues, festivals, and other events.
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Larry’s workshop covers all the bases ~
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* getting media attention for gigs and CDs, for festivals and charity benefits, for bookings and even opportunities like those important “opening” slots for name acts.

* getting airplay and reviews of your CDs.

* what to do before you release your CD.

* what to send WITH your CD, HOW to send it, and WHO should get it..

* how the media works, and what you need to do to get positive media attention.

* getting guest spots on radio and TV shows.

* building and maintaining your web presence and EPK.

* how to build your physical press kit.

* how to establish a relationship with people in the media.

* and lots more. It is a very full two hours!

He teaches, with examples, how to prepare all your critical materials – including how to write press releases that get attention (and when to send them), how to craft a dynamite one-sheet and bio (and what to do with them when you have a new CD or important event).
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Following the workshop’s previous presentations at the Autry and the Backstage, this same workshop created lots of buzz among musicians and other artists who were there. In fact, all that buzz produced demand from those who missed it – so it’s coming back, months sooner than expected. And he has ADDED EVEN MORE!
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Musician, concert promoter, and workshop series presenter DUANE THORIN booked Larry for this return engagement. This is the last time this year the workshop will be offered, and it will COST MORE NEXT YEAR.
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It’s Saturday, November 20, at 11 am, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage, 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena. The two-hour workshop will start promptly at 11 am and take a lunch break / intermission halfway through. It will conclude by 1:30-2 pm (depending on the length of the break) following closing Q&A.
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register in advance to get a take-home copy of presentation materials on disc (at the conclusion of the workshop; otherwise, one will be mailed to you). If you don’t pre-register, you may not get your copy of the take-home materials, and you run the risk that the workshop will be full, based on reservations.
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ADVANCE REGISTRATION: call the Backstage reservation number, 626-794-2424
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The workshop is $30. A $5 ADVANCE REGISTRATION discount is available to members of a number of songwriter and nonprofit music organizations. If you are a member of a group, ask if it qualifies you for the discount when you call to register. (Discounts available ONLY if you pre-register!)
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TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS OPPORTUNITY, BEFORE YOU WASTE TIME, MONEY & OPPORTUNITIES, TRYING TO LEARN THE HARD WAY!
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Get the pdf poster – full color, with more info – at
http://www.acousticmusic.net/events/20101120Media_workshop.pdf
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2) Weekend “Show-of-the-Week” Picks, Friday-Sunday, Nov 19-21…
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Friday, november 19th’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks
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7:30 pm DAVID MALLETT plays the Gelencser House Concert series in Claremont.
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8 pm SEVERIN BROWNE & JILL FREEMAN play the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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8 pm RICHARD BERMAN (from Amherst, Massachusetts) and STEVE MECKFESSEL play a double-bill at the “CAMARILLO CAFÉ CONCERT SERIES,” at Camarillo Community Center, Camarillo.
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8 pm “RICHARD THOMPSON’S CABARET OF SOULS” featuring HARRY SHEARER, JUDITH OWEN, PETE ZORN & special guests at UCLA Live in Royce Hall, on the UCLA campus in Westwood.
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JANET ROBIN with THE BANGLES, 5 o’clock Shakedown, The Dolly Rots, & Sassafrass, play a benefit at The Roxy in West Hollywood.
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Saturday, NOVEMBER 20th’s “EVENT-OF-THE-WEEK FOR ARTISTS”
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11 am WORKSHOP: “How to Work the Media,” for ARTISTS & Presenters, by music biz consultant and music journalist LARRY WINES, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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Saturday, NOVEMBER 20th’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks
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7 pm JANET KLEIN & HER PARLOR BOYS featuring Grammy winner IAN WHITCOMB at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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7:30 pm DAVID MALLETT & PHIL CHRISTIE play the The Living Tradition concert series at the Anaheim Downtown Community Center.
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7:30 pm RICHARD BERMAN plays the Gelencser House Concert series in Claremont.
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7:30 pm “TELLABRATION 2010” presented by the Inland Empire Storytellers at the Folk Music Center in Claremont.
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8 pm Grammy-winning guitarist LAURENCE JUBER at The Fret House in Covina.
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8 pm JAMES INTVELD & THE SWING SINNERS, with MARK GOLDBERG on bass, play a swing dance at the Hill Avenue Grace Lutheran Church in Pasadena.
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8 pm FREEBO & FRIENDS at “Russ & Julie’s House Concert” series in Oak Park (Thousand Oaks / Agoura Hills area).
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8 pm SLIGO RAGS at Boulevard Music in Culver City.
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8 pm JUDITH OWEN at McCabe’s in Santa Monica.
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8 pm T-LOU & HIS RED HOT ZYDECO BAND play the Cajun-Zydeco dance series at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Monrovia.
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8 pm DANIELLE HEBERT, multiple-award-winning Canadian songstress, returns for a FREE show on the Coffee Gallery FRONT stage in Altadena. (This is in addition to the show with JANET KLEIN in the Backstage…)
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Sunday, NOVEMBER 21st’s “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” picks
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11 am The HOLLOW TREES play the “Kid’s Matinee” series at McCabe’s in Santa Monica.
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2 pm matinee brings DUO LARÉ to the Coffee Gallery Backstage, Altadena.
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4 pm STEPHANIE BETTMAN & LUKE HALPIN play the “Acoustic Voices” series at the Ruth Shannon Center for the Performing Arts in Whittier.
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5 pm CONJUNTO JARDIN plus MARISOL Y LOS HERMANOS CARLOS, SON MESTIZO, DOMINGO SIETE, & SON LOS TEMPORALES, play a pseudo-festival evening for fans of “son musica” at the Eco-Logical Art Gallery in L.A.
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6 pm RICHARD BERMAN plays the Goleta House Concert series in Goleta.
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7 pm LOAFER’S GLORY the all-star ensemble of HERB PEDERSEN, BILL BRYSON, TOM SAUBER, & PATRICK SAUBER, at the Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena.
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7 pm JOHN WESLEY HARDING “Sings to a Small Guitar” plus MATT THE ELECTRICIAN at McCabe’s in Santa Monica.
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7:30 pm DAVID MALLETT plays the Noble House Concert series in Sherman Oaks.
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See the Guide’s complete “events listings” for all the details.
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3) This Weekend’s Festival Scene…
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Some very different offerings, this time around.
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The Inland Empire Storytellers present “TELLABRATION 2010” at the Folk Music Center in Claremont on Saturday. It’s anevening event, starting at 7:30 pm (doors at 7 for the best seats). It’s only $10. Tellebration! Is an international “Night of Storytelling” held every November on the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Begun in 1987 by Connecticut storyteller J. J. Pinkthis, this event is to raise the level of awareness of the ancient art form in the adult community. Sponsors say, “Often, adults assume that storytelling is meant only for children, but there are many stories, both personal and folk tales that appeal to adults.” Info, 909-624-2928 or www.folkmusiccenter.com
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If you’re into music that originated beyond English-speaking America, you’ll be delighted by one or the other (or both) of these festivals – one Saturday and one Sunday…
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Sat, Nov 20; world music & dance; festival:
10 am-4:30 pm (more at 7 pm) annual “BALKANFEST” brings BALKAN DANCE WORKSHOPS today and a DANCE PARTY tonight with RAKIA; DROMIA, and VESELBA; plus, the 7 pm Dance Party, after dinner break, separate tix available; it’s all at the Pendleton Dance Center at Pomona College, 210 E 2nd St, Claremont 91711; festival info from Ian Price, 818-753-0740 or ianpricebey@hotmail.com
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Sun, Nov 21; a “SHOW-OF-THE-WEEK” pick:
5 pm CONJUNTO JARDIN plus MARISOL Y LOS HERMANOS CARLOS, SON MESTIZO, DOMINGO SIETE, & SON LOS TEMPORALES, play a pseudo-festival for fans of “son musica” at the Eco-Logical Art Gallery, 4829 W Pico Bl, L.A. 90019. More at www.conjuntojardin.com
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4) ThE GUIDE’S “GUIDE” – HOW TO HAVE A MARVELOUS SUNDAY…
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Okay, the economy is tough, but one of these can be free (if you want to perform) and the other two are really, really, worth it.
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Start at the Noon-3 pm monthly “WESTERN MUSIC JAM” – which is actually a song circle that sometimes includes cowboy poets. It’s at the Autry National Center / Museum of the American West (formerly Autry Museum), 4700 Western Heritage Way, Griffith Park, L.A.; 323-667-2000; www.museumoftheamericanwest.org. All musicians with traditional or contemporary cowboy / western / western swing music, and cowboy poet / storytellers (with “short,” 3-minute selections) are invited to take part. All participating performers, and one guest each, get free admission to the Autry for the day, as do Western Music Assoc. members (whether or not they are performing). Co-sponsored by the WMA California Chapter and the Autry. More info on this event and other western music opportunities at www.westernmusic.com/chapter-california.html. The Autry’s Golden Spur Café has good lunches that won’t put you in the poorhouse…
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When you leave the Autry, head for Whittier. At 4 pm, STEPHANIE BETTMAN & LUKE HALPIN play the “Acoustic Voices” series at the Ruth Shannon Center for the Performing Arts in Whittier. With their impending move to Denver, this is a great opportunity to catch these two rising stars before the big wide world keeps ‘em too booked to get back here. Lots has been happening in their musical universe for the past year. Early 2010 had Stephanie excitedly reporting, “… my album, ‘Get Close To Me,’ has charted at #8 on the Folk DJ chart, and my track, ‘Evening Prayer Blues,’ came in at number #6 – I BEAT ROBERT PLANT AND ALISON KRAUSS! Now, I suppose, I can die.” To which we replied, “Yikes, Stephanie, don’t say THAT!” Stephanie was named in FolkWorks among the “Best of 2008 / Top Ten” Female Singer-Songwriters in Los Angeles, in Larry Wines’ annual round-up for the magazine. The show runs a full two hours (including break), 4-6 pm.
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You’ll need to be in Altadena by 7 pm (and an hour is enough time to get there). LOAFER’S GLORY plays the Coffee Gallery Backstage (“the venue named in FolkWorks as L.A.’s best intimate acoustic listening room venue”), at 2029 N Lake Av, Altadena 91001; reservations 626-794-2424; venue phone 626-398-7917; info www.coffeegallery.com. Wow. It’s HERB PEDERSEN on guitar and vocals. BILL BRYSON on bass and vocals. TOM SAUBER on fiddle, banjo, and vocals. PATRICK SAUBER on banjo, mandolin and vocals. This one truly features legends of pickin’ & grinnin’. Venue impresario Bob Stane calls this, “A unique engagement of the finest of bluegrass players. A show that will be talked about for years to come.” And he adds, “Treat you and yours to historical fun.” We hasten to add that they’ll all continue to make plenty of history – especially young Patrick, who has already toured and performed to great acclaim in Japan!
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So what if you need to pack a lunch for work all week, to afford this plan for Sunday. It’s sooooo WORTH IT!
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5) 2011 “National Folk Festival” IS WORTH $10-15 million
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Yep, we know the old joke that the way to make a million in folk music is to start with two million, and the other one that goes, “You can make literally hundreds of dollars in folk music!”
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But the sponsors of the 73rd annual National Folk Festival, to be held in Nashville on Labor Day weekend in 2011, are laughing for a different reason. The free-to-the public event and is expected to draw upwards of 100,000 people to Nashville, bringing an economic benefit of $10-15 million to the city.
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The National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) recently announced, together with Nashville Mayor Karl Dean and the Compass Records Group, that Labor Day weekend, September 2-4, 2011, has been chosen as the date for the 73rd National Folk Festival, and Nashville is the place.
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One of the nation’s largest and most prestigious celebrations of traditional music and culture, the National Folk Festival will be presented in downtown Nashville in each of the next three years, from 2011 – 2013. The final year in Nashville will mark the Festival’s 75th anniversary. Festival planners are currently working with city and state officials to determine the downtown site for the event, which will be announced in the near future. Festival planners selected Labor Day weekend with the goal of attracting holiday travelers from major metropolitan areas surrounding Nashville.
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“You can’t have too much live music in Music City,” quipped Mayor Dean, adding, “The National Folk Festival is going to be a great addition to the music festivals already held in Nashville. It’s a chance to display not only the traditional cultures and art of our city, but also the growing diversity of musical genres that call Nashville home.”
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NCTA Executive Director Julia Olin is enthusiastic: “What better place to celebrate the richness and variety of American culture than in Nashville, a vibrant, ascendant city in the heart of our nation.”
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Ralph Schulz, President of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is especially happy, noting, “Particularly in these economic times and as we recover from the flood, a free event with typical attendance of 100,000 to 180,000 is great for our hospitality industry, our community and tremendous exposure for sponsoring businesses and organizations.”
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Sponsors say the National Folk Festival effort in Nashville is expected to involve the entire community and bring together many diverse groups to work toward the common goal of building the event. They assert, “The festival will shine a light not only on the traditional roots of music that has made Middle Tennessee world famous, but also on the musical and cultural traditions of immigrant groups new to Nashville and the region, with the goal of reflecting the increasingly multi-cultural character of the city, state and nation.”
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Japan’s Consul-General, Hiroshi Sato, echoed that, saying, “The National Folk Festival is a perfect opportunity to show Nashville as the diverse, international community, economically and culturally, that it has become.”
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Nashville will be the host city for the 73rd, 74th and 75th National Folk Festivals, each produced by the National Council for the Traditional Arts. NCTA created the festival in 1934, and 2011-2013 are a homecoming. It’s all in partnership with Nashville’s local National Folk Festival group, the Metropolitan Government of Nashville, the Community Foundation, the Nashville Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Nashville Chamber of Commerce and the Compass Records Group. A fundraising effort to support the festival is underway and both corporate and private sponsorship are being sought.
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More detail are available at www.NashvilleNFF.org and www.nationalfolkfestival.com. If you have questions about how you can be involved, send an email to friendsofthefestival@NashvilleNFF.org or call the Compass Records Group at 615-320-7672.
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6) “The Most Celebrated Theater in LA County” has a music series
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Boston Court has earned 17 Ovation Award nominations for the current season, including nominations for “Best Season” and “Best Production.” That is more than any theater in the Los Angeles area, large or small. The announcement came at a recent evening event at the Autry Museum. In addition, the theater’s productions frequently earn “L.A. Time’s Critic’s Choice” recognitions.
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Pasadena’s Boston Court Performing Arts Center – its formal name – includes two performance spaces, and one of them is probably the best technically-equipped 99-seat equity theater in L.A. The other is an innovative, re-configurable space with a floor that can be raised or lowered in a variety of ways, and metal walls designed to attenuate sound with neither a tinny echo nor a need for amplification.
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The latter is home to a music series that has hosted some fine traditional folk shows, including annual performances by the late FRED STARNER, “Grand Duke of Hobo Minstrels,” with that theater’s namesake, CLARK BRANSON.
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A spokesman for Boston Court said, “This truly is a proud moment for us, but remember this: We don’t create theatre in a vacuum. We do it for you, our audience, so come out to Boston Court…”
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The Guide lists its music offerings, and we add our congratulations. Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located at 70 N Mentor Av, Pasadena 91106; Check their site for their theatrical productions, at www.bostoncourt.org, or call them at 626-683-6883.
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7) GOOGLE’S MISTAKES HAVE NEARLY CAUSED WARS – the shooting kind
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Nicaragua trying to seize an island, and more, that’s part of neighboring Costa Rica? It’s not some Banana Republic joke, and it’s just the latest example of Google Maps bringing neighboring nations to the brink of war.
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Can a cyber error really cause a war? We’re talking about now, in late 2010, not the old Hollywood premise of films like “War Games” and “Colossus: The Forbin Project,” or all those Cold War-era techno-thriller novels. It nearly happened last week, when Google Maps database suddenly “moved” the border between two Central American nations.
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In fact, Google’s careless identification of national boundaries has nearly caused wars at least three times, first between Cambodia and Thailand, recently between Morocco and Spain, and now between Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
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In each case, it seems to be that someone in power was handed an error they could interpret as an opportunity – to grab more power, or exercise their ego and take the people of their country along with them. (That’s not much different than Bush and the Neo-Cons invading Iraq, if you think about it.)
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Google Maps has been useful for many of us to plan trips, find venues and nearby lodgings, or just poke around to see what’s where, in relation to what’s nearby. But…
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Let’s apply the proper context to Google’s role. It’s an immediate and endlessly far-reaching manifestation of what publications, editors and journalists have faced for years – the need to be responsible and to perform “due diligence” with fact-checking before publishing. Of course, anything on the web suffers TV’s problem, to an even greater extreme, that being the need to be first, to be immediate, and hope you’ve got it right.
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Like all news sources, here at the Guide, we’ve made mistakes. Most recently, we asked how it is that obscene amounts of money can be spent – often secretly – in behalf of political causes, when nothing seems to be available for spending on the arts. We stated, in advance of the midterm elections, that an unprecedented amount – $3 billion – would be spent by candidates and groups favoring and opposing people and ballot measures in 2010. We took criticism: readers wrote to say “no way” would that kind of money be spent, or even be available in this economy, simply to be thrown down the rat hole of election campaigns and causes. Well, we were wrong, postulating that $3 billion would be spent. Turns out, over $4 billion was spent in the midterm election.
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Of course, that’s an even bigger obscenity. Our point of big money to gain power / gratify egos, but no money for the arts, remains a central question we will continue to ask.
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But we didn’t say anything that could start a war. Point is, anybody who publishes anything on the internet or anywhere else, and represents it as factual, should feel the journalist’s obligation to be accurate. (Are you listening, Fox News?) Society has built its own trap: we have all rapidly adapted to, indeed, demanded, an ever-increasing array of techno-access gadgets to give us “instant” more-and-more everything, and it’s often meaningless information, or so lacking in context that it’s worse than meaningless. Outright inaccuracy, if added to that, and people’s lives can literally hang in the balance. On all levels, the consequences of inaccurate information have subtly assumed greater potential for liability than ever before. Ask Google Maps, who did issue an apology for nearly causing a war over moving-around those Central American national boundaries.
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Still, much of the responsibility lies with all of us. Don’t bother demanding accuracy from those media-seeking nitwits who claim government has engaged in “genetic engineering to grow mice with human brains,” or that “the federal government is trying to ban cookies” (the edible kind, not the annoying cyber kind), or that “public school curriculum must reflect the fact that evolution is a myth” because “the earth is only 6,000 years old.” Demanding accuracy from them would be akin to telling them the moon is not green cheese. BUT, we CAN and we MUST demand the media take them to task for their lunatic statements. Moreover, we can, and must, demand that anything which claims to be “news” strives always, and foremost, for accuracy. Google Maps’ examples of meandering boundaries show that consequences are simply too great to allow a cavalier attitude – in a cyber-connected world where everything published or posted is available from that time forward for citation, reference, celebration – or humiliation.
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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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