Folk Music Reigns Supreme This Week in Clubland

by Tomm Carroll

Friday, September 28-Thursday, October 4—When the nation is in turmoil, it always seems that folk music is there to calm the worried and inform the confused. And so it is this week here on the Westside.

Not only are Suzanne Vega and Marshall Crenshaw in town (see Pick of the Week, below), but Santa Monica’s own "House of Folk," McCabe’s Guitar Shop has a weekend packed with folk-influenced singer-songwriters.

Friday night finds one of Britain’s phenomenal if unsung songwriters, Clive Gregson at McCabe’s. Known for his stint as the leader of pub rock band Any Trouble, as well as a longtime sideman for Richard Thompson and erstwhile musical partner of singer Christine Collister, Gregson, now living in Nashville, is a true craftsman of the genre. Opening the show is his Nashville neighbor, singer-guitarist Andy Scheinman.

The latest in a line of punk rockers-gone-acoustic, Kirk Kurtwood, leader of the infamous Arizona prairie punks The Meat Puppets, has embarked on his first solo tour, and Saturday and Sunday night’s stops are at McCabe’s.

Expect some stripped down country-punk-psychedelia from the Puppets’ repertoire, plus new material. The evening begins with special guest Jerry Joseph. There’s another matinee children’s show at 11 a.m. Sunday at McCabe’s, as well. Children’s author Barney Salzberg holds kiddie court this week.

If you’d rather be with a large crowd of folks, consider the free Abbot Kinney Boulevard Festival, on the street of the same name in Venice this Saturday and Sunday. The music (on two separate stages) is presented by Santa Monica’s Temple Bar club, and features such local hip-hop, pop, Latin and soul acts (and Temple Bar regulars) as Los Bomberos, Five Degrees of Soul, Psydecar, Wozani, Swing Brazil and The Rhythm Room All-Stars. For the schedule, visit www.templebarlive.com.

Another festival of sorts is the 75^th Anniversary Celebration of of John Coltrane: His Life, Music and Legacy, paying tribute to the jazz giant at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills Saturday evening. With proceeds benefitting the John Coltrane Scholarship program, the performers include Alice, Michelle and Oranyan Coltrane, Kenny Burrell, Benny Maupin, Art Davis and Terry Gibbs.

Other shows of note this week:

Friday

Elvis Costello and The Charles Mingus Orechestra wind up their two-night-stand at UCLA’s Royce Hall in Westwood.

Burning Star and Natural Afrodisiac kick off the Verizon Music Festival taking place at Temple Bar in Santa Monica all week.

Saturday

Guitar Shorty and Central Avenue belt out the blues at Santa Monica’s Harvelle’s.

Steely Dan tribute band D. Wu join Munkafust and Flying Blind on a triple bill at 14 Below oin Santa Monica.

Rusty’s Surf Ranch on the Santa Monica Pier hangs ten with Alison Allison, Madhouse 7 and Spank.

Sunday

Pico Train rolls through Harvelle’s.

Monday

Ramfunkshus lives up to its name at The West End in Santa Monica.

Tuesday

Trumpteter Tom Harrell brings his Quintet to the Jazz Bakery in Culver City for a six-night showcase.

Wednesday

14 Below features Band Name of the Week Big Ass Sandwich (and that’s not the food menu!).

Thursday

Jazzer David Diggs and his Quartet headline Century City’s Lunaria.

ROYCE HALL, UCLA IN WESTWOOD

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 4

As part of a travelling Newport Folk Festival, UCLA teams up two of the most extraordinary singer-songerwriters in the folk-pop-rock idiom and presents them at the acoustically accommodating Royce Hall.

Santa Monica native Vega is a modern-day troubadour. She got her start in the folk clubs in Greenwich Village and went on to become a critical (if not always commercial) favorite, thanks to songs like "Luka," about child abuse and "Tom’s Diner," which was trransformed into a dance mix and became a huge success. Her first album in five years, Songs in Red and Gray (A&M/Universal), was just released last Tuesday, so you know there’ll be some new songs in her set.

One of the best opening acts imaginable, Detroit’s own Marshall Crenshaw is a rock and roller with a pure pop heart. His early career highlight was portraying John Lennon in the road show of "Beatlemania" which played the West Coast. Aside from being a killer guitarist, he’s also an in-demand songwriter, and has penned hits for artists as diverse as Robert Gordon, Bette Midler, Kelly Willis, Marti Jones and the Gin Blossoms. Crenshaw’s most recent release is the imaginatively titled I’ve Suffered for My Art…Now It’s Your Turn (King Biscuit Flour Hour), a live set recorded at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ.