Acoustic Americana Music Guide & fresh News, March 26 to April 6 (and beyond)
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This edition contains an urgent appeal to YOU to support the Guide, so that it can continue. See the first first News Feature.
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Tied to the Tracks
ACOUSTIC AMERICANA
MUSIC GUIDE & NEWS
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MARCH 26 to APRIL 6 events (and beyond, through 2010)
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NEWS FEATURES:
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1) URGENT APPEAL FROM THE GUIDE
SUPPORT THE GUIDE, AND GET SOME GREAT DVDs / CDs IN RETURN!
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Last year, the Acoustic Americana Music Guide gave-away tickets to see EMMYLOU HARRIS, SHAWN COLVIN, PATTY GRIFFIN, BUDDY MILLER, and others. We want to offer tickets for shows THIS year, as well – and we can, because they’re available to us (and therefore to YOU) – but ONLY if we can continue to maintain the Guide. That’s where you come in.
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RIGHT NOW, we are offering some GREAT thank-you gifts in return for your support – we have CDs and DVDs we can send you!
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The Guide must ask NOW for your financial support. For more than seven years, the Acoustic Americana Music Guide has brought you the most detailed information on acoustic music performances in the Los Angeles region and news of acoustic music festivals everywhere, together with news of things like workshops for artists, songwriting contests you can enter, and lots more. The Guide has continued to grow and list more and more and more gigs and acoustic music events – and that’s part of the problem. There is an ever-increasing amount of all of it.
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We don’t simply tell you when the “big names” are in town. We provide as much information as we can, covering the great unknown indies; the up-and-comers; the wonderful artists who write clever or inspiring songs and are virtuosos on their instruments; talented musicians ranging from today’s “acoustic renaissance” innovators to those who breathe new life into everything from Ragtime to Skiffle to Old Time fiddle music to Blues slide guitar to mandolin to banjo to accordion to harmonica to sweetly-blended vocal harmonies – and much, much more.
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Our write-ups don’t stop at the “who, where, and when” information available in several calendars around town. We reveal the crucial “WHAT” – what kind of music a performer or band does, what awards they’ve won for it, what accolades they’ve collected along the way, and more. And those are the things that make all the difference between seeing names you don’t know, and quickly knowing that an artist or band is someone you’d like to see. (That’s the feedback we get all the time.)
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In addition, we provide separate descriptions of dozens of acoustic music radio and TV shows that feature performance-interviews with artists (mostly available as web simulcasts), and recently we’ve added so many additional acoustic music shows that those listings now require separate postings for each day.
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We cover the rich, broad, deeply tuneful spectrum of acoustic Americana – from blues to bluegrass to borderlands, Cajun to Celtic to cowboy to Cape Breton to Quebecois, new-old-trad-alt-post folk, and the best of today’s vibrant acoustic renaissance. If it’s acoustic music, from folk-Americana to Djangostyle gypsy jazz, from sea chanteys to honky-tonk to accessible classical music perfomed live, even stage plays and other events we think you’ll like, our goal is to include all of these things in the Guide – and with enough information to enable you to see at a glance what they’re about – and more, to offer an informative and pleasant journey – an exploration of the live music landscape.
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Riding herd on all this, and getting the word of all of it to you, requires many, many hours EACH and EVERY week. And since our editor’s eye surgeries (two surgeries, with two more still to come), things are more challenging and take even longer.
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If you print-out the Guide, with its detailed presentations of live music events and news features, it’s over two hundred pages of original content each week. We don’t just cover FAR MORE (by orders of magnitude) than the L.A. Times and LA Weekly combined – we bring you news of many genres – hundreds of acoustic music performances that those other “news” sources have consciously chosen to ignore.
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And yes, along the way, things have gotten completely out of hand, in terms of the time required to do all this, especially in this economy. We just can’t do all this for free anymore.
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We can and will continue to bring you the Guide, and even EXPAND to a full-feature website in the near future – IF we have your help.
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So here’s the deal – WE HAVE GOODIES FOR YOU in return for your help!
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SEND US A CHECK FOR $25, and we’ll send your choice of:
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(A) the professionally-produced DVD of the multi-artist Benefit Concert for the editor – with LOTS of wonderful performances- PLUS, one CD of your choice,
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(B) you may select THREE CDs from the list of all that we have available.
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(And read the catalogue to the end and get ANOTHER bonus!)
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The COMPLETE LIST, WHERE YOU CAN CHOOSE YOUR “THANK-YOU” GIFTS, is at
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http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/03/support-guide-and-get-some-great-dvds.html
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Email us to tell us you’re sending your $25 check, and to tell us whether you want the Benefit Concert DVD plus one CD, or three CDs / DVDs from the catalog as our “thank you” for your $25. That’s important, because everything in the catalog is first-come, first-served (there is usually only ONE of each catalog item) and the first email asking for a particular CD is the one that gets it.
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WRITE YOUR $25 CHECK TO “TIED TO THE TRACKS” AND MAIL IT TO:
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Tied to the Tracks
PO Box 5427
Pasadena CA 91117-5427
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Then email us at tiedtothetracks@hotmail.com and put “Guide Thank You” in the subject line – tell us what choices you want, and confirm your selections before they’re gone.
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It is our intention to keep publishing the Guide, and to make it even better – THANK YOU for your help to do that!
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2) FOLKWORKS PRINT EDITION – SPECIAL SUMMER ISSUE
To be distributed at the Claremont Folk Festival, Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest and many other festivals and concerts throughout the summer, now has advertising space available. The special edition will appear online (www.folkworks.org) as well as in print. The ad rate sheet with specs is available by email from ledas@pacbell.net. The ads must be submitted at 300 dpi for paper printing (not at 72 dpi as used online-only).
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3) CELEBRATE RECORD STORE DAY & GET SPECIAL STUFF, APRIL 17…
Though they are often portrayed as a dying breed, true music lovers have respect and admiration for the REAL record shops that remain on the American economic and cultural landscape. Again this year, record stores across the U.S. are celebrating “Record Store Day.” It’s April 17, when many stores will offer exclusive, collectible items from a broad range of artists, including Bruce Springsteen.
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Columbia Records has produced a 10″ vinyl single available only on Record Store Day. For those who’ve never seen a vinyl record, it actually has music on two sides. The special single’s side A is “Wrecking Ball (Live at Giants Stadium)” and side B is “The Ghost Of Tom Joad (Live Version featuring Tom Morello).”
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Exclusively created for Record Store day, the limited edition 10″ Springsteen single features two rare live performances from 2009 and 2008. Both of these tracks have previously been available digitally, but not on any CD. You can only get a copy on Record Store Day. The label tells us, “This piece is strictly limited so contact the store in advance to make sure that they will have stock.” (More on the Boss and his recordings at brucespringsteen.net.)
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Check out www.recordstoreday.com to find your nearest participating store, and pay them a visit on Saturday, April 17.
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4) COFFEE GALLERY – WHAT’S WITH ALL THE NEW PHONE NUMBERS?
Used to be that when you wanted tickets for a show in the Backstage before it sold-out, you simply called the front counter and got a harried barrista, and waited your turn to get your reservations made. That was always fraught with potential problems, since barristas often have a waiting line of folks who want complicated beverages – folks who may provide the barrista with tips – but answering the phone and fielding questions while paging through a reservation book brings no tips and creates delays for counter patrons.
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Okay, so it was long overdue that the Backstage got a separate phone line with a separate person answering it – or at least a recording device where you declare your desired reservation and leave your phone number.
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But the Backstage proceeded to get TWO different phone lines. There is a reason for that. You can call 626-794-2424 during the day and you’ll usually reach Beverly, who will take your RESERVATIONS FOR BACKSTAGE SHOWS (or, if you don’t reach her, you can make a reservation on the answering device).
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Or, you can call 626-689-4144 at any hour, always get an answering device, and select options for RESERVATIONS FOR BACKSTAGE SHOWS, or leave a message for CGB impresario Bob Stane, or inquire about renting the Backstage, or you can still get routed through to the front counter if you need to know anything about the Front Stage’s (free) shows, or the free WiFi, or the food or drink operations. That latter desire – reaching someone at the front counter – can still be achieved at the original number, 626-398-7917 – just remember that phoning the counter gets you a barrista who is probably harried, so be patient. And now you know why the other numbers are for reservations.
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It really is worth noting this stuff, since some Backstage shows sell-out promptly, and none of these numbers are available in the phone book or from directory assistance.
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5) ALL-STAR LOWEN & NAVARRO TRIBUTE CD HELPS ALS FOUNDATION
Check out the “KEEP THE LIGHT ALIVE” CD. It’s a multi-artist tribute to LOWEN & NAVARRO, and all proceeds go to the ALS Foundation and to Eric Lowen in his heroic battle with this dreaded disease. Info at www.keepthelightalive.org. (Yes, we told you about the album when it was first released, so this is a gentle reminder, or news for those it missed it the first go-’round.)
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6) THOUGHT FOR TODAY…
“Drink coffee – do stupid things faster with more energy!” – T-shirt worn by banjo legend Bill Keith
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7) THOUGHT FOR THE AGES…
“Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, a charm to sadness, and life to everything.” ~ Plato
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RECENT NEWS FEATURES:
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The March 20 edition’s News Features are available at
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/03/acoustic-americana-music-guide-fresh_20.html
The topics are:
1) SPRING MUSIC FESTIVALS START ON FIRST DAY OF SPRING
2) GUIDE’S RADIO & TV LISTINGS NOW IN SEPARATE PAGES
3) REGISTER TO COMPETE IN THE 50th TOPANGA BANJO-FIDDLE CONTEST
4) ANOTHER HAITI RELIEF BENEFIT SHOW, MARCH 19
5) MICHELE VREELAND RADIO INTERVIEW
6) A THOUGHT FOR ALL THOSE TEA-BAGGERS…
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The March 13 edition’s News Features are available at
http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/03/acoustic-americana-music-guide-march-13.html
The topics are:
1) ST. PATRICK’S DAY IS WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17…
2) AZTEC CALENDAR’S NEW YEAR: A TIME OF MUSIC, CONTEMPLATION, MORE
3) TIME, AND WHYS AND WHEREFORES OF IT…
4) MUSIC SHOWS ON PBS? MUST BE PLEDGE-DRIVE TIME…
5) ANOTHER HAITI RELIEF BENEFIT SHOW, MARCH 19
6) OTHER NEWS?
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RECENT GUEST EDITORIALS:
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L.A.-based musician and expert on the subject MICHAEL HERALDA always presents a compelling and informative performance, and his written piece on the Mexica New Year is fascinating, spiritual, and a must-read for cultural literacy. It’s our guest editorial, by Michael, at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/03/aztec-calendars-new-year-time-of-music.html. Michael has done musical and spoken word excerpts from his compelling “Aztec Stories” presentation on radio’s “Tied to the Tracks,” including music on original and traditional Native American instruments.
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Did you see our GUEST EDITORIAL in February 2010 by award-winning musician FREEBO? He wrote an essay on climate change that’s worth a read, and we presented it in the Guide. It’s entertaining and thoughtful, and takes it to the “deniers” in right-wing media. It’s at http://acousticamericana.blogspot.com/2010/02/climate-change-by-freebo-special-to.html
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Entire contents copyright (c) © 2010, Larry Wines. All rights reserved.
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Updated March 26, 2010; recurring events included through Tuesday, April 6, with updated listings of many upcoming events through the rest of 2010, are available in the complete edition of the Guide, at
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www.acousticamericana.blogspot.com
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