GRASSROOTS ACOUSTICA #17:
THE GREATEST HITS EDITION

Sat, November 8, 2008
mainshow 7-10 p.m.
The Talking Stick Coffee Lounge
1411C Lincoln Blvd (@ California Street)
Venice

FEATURING:
Lauren Wood
Harriet Schock
Larry John McNally
Alan O'Day
Lois Blaisch
Johnny Townsend,
artist-in-residence Byron Pfeifer
host/curator Mark Islam
(Links to artist's websites found on homepage)

[VENICE, CALIFORNIA] - Its 16 shows having raised $9,483 in guitarcase greenbacks for L.A.-area non-profit organizations, on Saturday, November 8th, Grassroots Acoustica hopes to race past the $10,000 threshold when host Mark Islam & artist-in-residence Byron Pfeifer present Grassroots Acoustica #17: The Greatest Hits Edition, three hours of million sellers by local masters whom one’d pay good money to take Learning Annex classes from, all appearing for voluntary donations of any size to The Braille Institute.

With tunes covered by a short list that includes the Eagles, Bonnie Raitt (whose birthday it will be), Joe Cocker, & Rod Stewart, Larry John McNally returns for his third visit in nearly a year to the benefit series whose lineup also spotlights returning visits from fellow gold- and platinum-selling colleagues Harriet Schock, originator of Helen Reddy’s Ain’t No Way To Treat A Lady; Lois Blaisch, whose multi-platinum international success Could’ve Been was performed by Carrie Underwood on American Idol; and Alan O’Day, writer of Reddy’s Angie Baby & The Righteous Brothers’ Rock’n’Roll Heaven & arguably best known for his #1 hit Undercover Angel, a tune he alludes to on the kickoff track of I Hear Voices, his first album in 28 years.

Appearing on Grassroots Acoustica for the very first time are keyboardist Johnny Townsend whose band with Ed Sanford yielded a #2 hit with the late Jerry Wexler-produced Smoke From A Distant Fire in ’77, also cut by Conway Twitty; and the little-seen-lately Lauren Wood, who’d scored her own left-field hit when filmmaker Gary Marshall insisted that her version of the oft-recorded Fallen be used in Pretty Woman.

And to capitalize on The Talking Stick’s tremendous potential as a musical hangout, a late afternoon songwriters’ open mike precedes the mainshow from 4 to 6 p.m.

Settling comfortably into its second-Saturday-of-the-month timeslot at the new Talking Stick in Venice, Grassroots Acoustica joins a calendar of such long-running crown jewels as Ernest Troost’s Juke Joint Gang and Daniel McFeeley’s theme-oriented Out Of The Blue (formerly Wordplay), as well as the Wednesday night open mikes hosted by Tom Gramlich & Byron Pfeifer on the first & third Wednesdays of every month.

The Braille Institute is a nonprofit organization operated and funded almost entirely through private individual and foundation sources with a mission to eliminate barriers to a fulfilling life caused by blindness and severe sight loss. With 5 regional centers in Southern California & 200 community outreach programs, The Braille Institute provides an environment of hope and encouragement for people who are blind and visually impaired through integrated educational, social and recreational programs and services to more than 71,000 people (according 2006-7 figures). Generous donor and dedicated efforts by more than 3,600 volunteers enable staff to provide training, programs and services without charge.

To learn more about The Braille Institute and its programs or to make a secure donation, please visit www.brailleinstitute.org.

The Talking Stick is located at 1411C Lincoln Blvd at California in Venice. Showtime is 7 p.m. The event is free & open to the public. 100% of all donations will benefit The Braille Institute.

LOOKING AHEAD

SAT, DEC 13
Grassroots Acoustica #18: 2nd Annual Lotta Love Edition – Family, Friends & Fans Remember Nicolette Larson [1952-1997]
GUEST OF HONOR Elsie May Larson-Kunkel
Huge lineup TBD.
To benefit The Nicolette Larson Pediatric Endowment at Mattel Children’s Hospital/UCLA.

SAT, JAN 10, 2009
Grassroots Acoustica #19: 2nd Annual Auld Lang Syne Edition – One Degree To Edward Tree
FEATURING: Karen Tobin, Ben Carr, John Stowers, Jeff Kossack, Wendy Conrad, Brad Colerick, Spencer Davis, Jane Bolduc, Byron Pfeifer, et al TBD
SPECIAL GUEST Lisa O’Kane
GUEST OF HONOR Edward Tree
To benefit House of Hope

GRASSROOTS ACOUSTICA
NON-PROFITS TO DATE
Children Of The Night
The Blank Theatre Company
Project Angel Food
WeSpark
The Linda Blair WorldHeart Foundation for Animal & Human Welfare
The Nicolette Larson Pediatric Endowment at Mattel Children's Hospital/UCLA
A New Way Of Life Reentry Project
Echo Park Film Center
Friends Of The Los Angeles River
Showing People Learning & Technology
School On Wheels
The Celebration Theatre
Shoes That Fit
Alzheimer's Association California Southland Chapter - Memory Walk