SANTA MONICA, CA (CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — The L.A. Acoustic Music Festival makes its debut over the weekend of June 6–7, 2009 on the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, Calif. The two-day acoustic music festival will take place during the Pier's 100th Anniversary year and will benefits the California Acoustic Music Project (CAMP).
The lineup for Saturday, June 6 will open with the Refugees, the all-female "power band" of Wendy Waldman ("Save the Best for Last"), Deborah Holland, and Cindy Bullens, followed by Joel Rafael, Eliza Gilkyson, and the extraordinary Jimmy LaFave, named "Best Singer-Songwriter" by Austin Music Awards, playing what he calls "red dirt music."
After dinner, Richard Thompson, the iconic British folk rock legend will take the stage, followed by Natalie MacMaster, the virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler. The final act of the evening will be Bruce Cockburn, bringing festival stage his own brand of acoustic folk-jazz-based music that has expanded to include reggae and a harder jazz-fusion-tinged rock.
Leading off the lineup on Sunday, June 7 will be Sarah Lee Guthrie (granddaughter of Woody Guthrie) and Johnny Irion; Austin singer/songwriter Slaid Cleaves; and Stonehoney, with its neo-California country-rock sound. The afternoon will feature a Woody Guthrie tribute (by the band Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway) will pay homage to to the folk troubadour.
Sunday evening will continue with David Bromberg & the Angel Band, followed by So-Cal singer-songwriter David Lindley, known also for his guitar work in Jackson Browne's recorded legacy. The festival will conclude with Nanci Griffith performing her unique brand of what Rolling Stone has described as "folkabilly" music.
The California Acoustic Music Project , which the festival is benefiting, is an organization that provides artists-in-residence to schools on a salaried, ongoing basis through the curriculum of the Americana Project in order to ensure that every student gets the experience of music instruction every day.
"Premiere" tickets for the event cost $130 (adults, both days) and $100 (children, both days), or $75 (adult, one day) and $45 (children, one day). General admission is $110 (adults, both says) and $80 (children, both days), or $65 (adults, one day) and $45 (children, one day). The ticketing sections are seated in chairs, reserved by section but not individual chair. Premiere seating is front of house. General admission is behind premiere seating.
Tickets and information can be found at laacousticmusicfestival.com. – CelebrityAccess Staff Writers
