LA Acoustic Music Festival – June 6-7, 2009

It wasn’t that long ago we took a trip to Santa Monica Pier for a little general entertainment. If we’d only waited a month we could have thrown in a soundtrack as well. That’s because in barely more than a month, the famous pier will be awash in the soulful, non-amplified strums of guitar at the LA Acoustic Music Festival.

For your folk music fans out there, come support this dying breed of entertainment.

With a name like LA Acoustic Music Festival, you should have a reasonably good idea what to expect: live acoustic music, and lots of it! Over two days, fifteen performers from folk music greats to tribute groups to specialty acts will take the stage at Santa Monica Pier for one stirring set after another. Acts include Natalie MacMaster, a genre-bending folkie and virtuoso fiddler, the prolific Bruce Cockburn, wicked guitarist Richard Thompson, Jimmy Lafave, Eliza Gilkyson and a Woody Guthrie Tribute act*.

The Web site provides detailed biographies on every performer, so check them out here.

For a little extra fun, try to be on hand either day for a performance by the students of the California Acoustic Music Project. This project, called CAMP, is a non-profit organization dedicated to keeping music education in the California school systems. Students that have benefited from the efforts of CAMP will be taking the stage for a 15-minute performance both days, and as a band nerd from 6^th – 12^th grade myself, this is a show I’d love to catch. Festival proceeds go to benefit CAMP as well, so not only are you getting two great days of music, you’re supporting an important cause.

Of course, in order for there to be proceeds, there has to be money somewhere, so while the lineup is impressive, the tickets aren’t cheap. Two-day pricing for premier seating is $130 per adult, general seating at $110. Tickets provide admission to a section, but don’t reserve an individual seat, so arrive early to get the most of your ticket.

The LA Acoustic Music Festival will be hosted at Santa Monica Pier on Saturday and Sunday, June 6-7, 2009. Get directions, schedules and tickets here.

Now here’s a fun idea: I understand that Bodie House Music, who are presenting the concert and represent a number of the artists, will be staying at the Holiday Inn Santa Monica Hotel at the Pier. There are still rooms available, so why not stay where the stars are staying? You can walk to the Pier, and you might even have a chance to corner one of the performers in the bar for an intense round of friend-making. (USA Travel Guide does not promote the harassment of folk singers).

Have a fun time in beautiful Santa Monica.

*Fun Fact: Woody Guthrie, best known for the song “This Land is Your Land”, spent a small part of his youth in the town of Pampa, Texas. Not only did I live for several years in Pampa, I was born there.

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