Early bird tickets for the 28th Annual Live Oak Music Festival, June 17-19 at Live Oak Camp at Lake Cachuma, are on sale now, with discounts available until March 18. Ticket prices range from $25 (child day ticket) to $130 (adult full festival 3-day pass). Camping is included with the 3-day pass. Parking fees are additional. See: liveoakfest.org for a complete line up of acts and ticket information.
Live Oak showcases musicians from all over the world performing folk, rhythm and blues, roots rock, Latin, jazz, Americana, world music, and more. Acts already signed on include the Jay Farrar Trio, celebrating the 20th Anniversary of his first release; Texas singer-songwriter James McMurtry, goodtime soul and R&B band The California Honeydrops; contemporary folk, Americana and roots music artist Sarah Jarosz; and the genre-hopping, time-bending dance bash band, The Dustbowl Revival. Additional acts will be announced soon.
The festival includes an array of international food booths, acclaimed local wine & beer, as well as children and teen activities including arts & crafts, hiking excursions, talent shows, and a teen game room.
The Great American Melodrama in Oceano has taken Hitchcock’s “39 Steps” and added its brand for a farcical performance followed by a musical review in a tax deductible fundraiser for Save the Park, at 3 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 13 in support of the group’s efforts for Mother Nature. Tickets are $25 adults and $5 children. Call 772-5912.
Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, 2201 Lawton Ave., San Luis Obispo will have Soprano Katherine Arthur and pianist Susan Davies perform the world premiere of the song cycle, “Songs of Freedom,” plus gypsy songs and Cole Porter classics at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 21. Tickets are $20 general $5 students, under-12 free, available at the door or advanced online through Brown Paper Tickets on the U.U. website, see: www.uuslo.org.
The Cal Poly University Jazz Bands will present, “Just Jazz,” a concert set for 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 19 in the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly. Tickets are $12 and $14 for the public and $9 and $12 for students and Jazz Federation members. Pricing includes all PAC fees, and parking. Tickets are sold at the PAC Box Office from noon to 6 p.m. Mondays-Saturdays. Order by phone at 756-4849. A 10-percent discount for patrons who buy season tickets to four Music Department events and a 15-percent discount for five or more events. The show will feature a range of today’s jazz styles — parody, intimate combos and epic composition. Student musicians will play in two big bands and two jazz combos. Pieces to be performed include Adam Bartzack’s “Grass is Greener,” “No More Mr. Nice Guy,” by Alice Cooper and “Rush,” from the Japanese anime cartoon “Cowboy Bebop.”
The San Luis Obispo Wind Orchestra presents: The Stars of SLO” a concert featuring flutist Nancy Smee, oboe player Heidi Butterfield and the premiere of associate conductor David Rackley’s “Sweet,” based on Handel’s “Suite No. 11 for Piano,” set for 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 20 at the Cuesta College Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 students and $20 general public. Get tickets online at www.cpactickets.cuesta.edu or call 546-3198. Backed by the Orchestra, Smee will solo on “Concerto for Flute, Chaminade;” and Butterfield will solo on “Elegy for English Horn and Band.”
Folk singer, Lukas Papenfusscline will play Last Stage West on Hwy 41 located about halfway between Morro Bay and Atascadero at 7 p.m. Saturday, Feb 13. No cover charge and LSW has great barbecue fare for dinner. Lukas plays banjo, harmonium and guitar in the Appalachian folk music tradition with a new and original sound. For a music sample, see: www.sonicbids.com/band/lukaspapenfusscline.
A free Valentine’s Day piano concert with Louise King and soprano Katherine Arthur, “For the Love of Music,” is set for 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 at St. Benedicts Church, 2220 Snowy Egrety Ln., Los Osos. The program includes music by Brahms and Cole Porter. Donations are welcome. For more information, contact St. Benedict’s at 528-0654 or email to: [email protected].
Songwriters At Play presents Cal Poly graduate and former San Luis Obispo resident Mike Annuzzi on Feb. 22 at Bang the Drum Brewery (950 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo, 805- 242-8372). Mike will preview songs from his upcoming third album “The One.” His song “Paradise” from his previous CD was heard in steady rotation on The Krush 92.5. It also won the 2010 Song of the Year for the West Coast Songwriters San Francisco chapter. He has been performing regularly around the Central Coast for the last 10 years. The showcase starts at 6:30 with guest performers, including Tim Jackson. No cover charge, but a tip bucket is passed during the featured artist’s set.
Tickets are on sale now for Billboard’s 6-time No. 1 World Albums Artist multi-platinum Irish music sensation, Celtic Woman, set to play the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 18. Tickets range from $50-$90 at the PAC Box Office. Call (805) 756-4849, or order on line at: www.pacslo.org. Celtic Woman, with their brand new show, “Destiny,” celebrates the simultaneous release of their new album and DVD, also titled Destiny, honoring Ireland’s past, with a contemporary musical edge to songs old and new in a way that also reflects the vibrant, modern Ireland. Celtic Woman features three world-class vocalists, Mairéad Carlin, Susan McFadden and newest member Éabha McMahon, and brilliant Celtic violinist Máiréad Nesbitt accompanied by a talented band and traditional dancers.
Jazz Vespers returns to First Presbyterian of San Luis Obispo (corner of Marsh and Morro) at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 14 in a special Valentine’s Day show. Vocalist Judy Philbin, Adam Levine on guitar and Keegan Harshman on bass, will perform songs focused on love, gratitude, life and family, and humanity. Free, donations appreciated. See: www.JudyPhilbin.com for music samples.
Australian musician, comedian, actor, writer and director Tim Minchin will perform at the Performing Arts Center at Cal Poly at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 24. Tickets range from $20.80-$36 and available at the PAC Box Office, Mondays–Saturdays, noon to 6 p.m. Call (805) 756-4849 or order online at: www.calpolyarts.org. Minchin brings a hilarious solo performance at the piano, combining razor-sharp stand-up comedy with sly, satirical songs. As a comedian-musician, he has toured solo, with bands and with symphony orchestras, playing in venues big and small: from the Largo LA and the New York Town Hall, to the London’s Royal Albert Hall and the Sydney Opera House. He recently appeared on stage as Rosencrantz in Tom Stoppard’s, “Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead” at the Sydney Theatre Company, and as Judas in Lloyd-Weber and Tim Rice’s “Jesus Christ Superstar” in arenas across the U.K. and Australia. This show will include topical/adult content, ages 17-older only, plus fog effects.
The Basin Street Regulars Jazz Society presents Hot Swingin’ Jazz” Feb. 28. The jam session starts at 11a.m. (bring your instrument and join in). Two professional bands start at 1p.m. It all takes place at the Veterans’ Memorial Building 780 Bello Street Pismo Beach at 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Entrance is $5 for members and $10 for non-members. This month’s bands are: Cell Block 7 Jazz Band from Lodi https://www.ericburger.org/cellblock7.htm and our local Rag Bone Saints Band httpss://www.facebook.com/ragbonesaints/ Food, drinks, and dance floor on site. For more information, call (805) 481-7840 or go to www.pismojazz.com. Email at: [email protected].
Songwriters At Play presents Caitlin Mahoney on Feb. 29 at Bang the Drum Brewery (950 Orcutt Road, San Luis Obispo, 805-242-8372). Caitlin is a New York City-based singer-songwriter who writes of adventure, passion, and life’s chaos, or as she calls it, “the Spin.” Mahoney’s debut LP aptly-titled Spin was a collaboration with Nashville producers Chris Grainger (Wilco, Kopecky) and Jonathan Trebing (Peter Bradley Adams, Mindy Smith) and highlights her charm-filled vocals, reflective words and snap-worthy hooks. The showcase starts at 6:30 pm with special guest performers including Cal Poly’s Maria Woodson. No cover, but a tip basket is passed for the featured act.
Along Comes Hope presents “Comedy for a Cure” featuring Andrew Kennedy on Thursday, March 10 at the San Luis Obispo Country Club at 255 Country Club Dr, San Luis Obispo. The night will start with a reception at 6:30 p.m. with the comedy show ending at 9:00 p.m. Tickets are $45 and include pizza, popcorn, a drink ticket for beer or wine and an opportunity to take fun photos in a photobooth. There will be raffle tickets for purchase upon arrival with prizes from local businesses all around San Luis Obispo. Andrew Kennedy’s comedy act is voted one of Comedy Central’s Top 20. He was also voted number one in the “Comedy Central’s Standup Showdown.” All proceeds from the comedy night benefit kids fighting cancer with Along Comes Hope. To purchase tickets, visit www.alongcomeshope.com/events/comedy. For more information about the event, Email Jenny at [email protected].
