Greetings from Grand Lake, Michigan

Spent an excellent weekend in the land of my ancestors last month. Since most of our family reunions take place on the Lake Michigan side of the state, the northeast side of the “hand” was brand new territory for me. Big thanks to David and Bobette for all their hospitality and introducing me to this lovely little corner of the upper midwest.

Allie Moss and Lauren Zettler to perform house concert in San Francisco Bay Area on Sunday, August 22

You may know her best as Ingrid Michaelson‘s guitarist-singer-sidekick, but Allie Moss is a tremendous singer/songwriter herself. Her latest release, Passerby, is one of my favorite records of the past year—I highly recommend checking it out. It’s available here on Amazon.com.

When I met Allie and Ingrid three years ago, they were still on the verge. It was before the cover of Billboard magazine, before the tours with Dave Matthews and Jason Mraz, before the appearances on The Tonight Show and Conan O’Brien, before the R.E.M. Tribute at Carnegie Hall.

In May 2009, I had the honor of presenting Allie at a living room show in Mill Valley. It was an incredible night of music that also introduced me to the excellent songwriting of Ian Axel, Rene Thomas, Chad Vaccarino and Rosi Golan. This summer, Allie is touring with Lauren Zettler, a superb singer/songwriter who’s been getting great buzz in our tribe of northern California music fans.

This is going to be a memorable gathering– most likely taking place in the same Sausalito Victorian where ambeR Rubarth recently performed, but the location is still being confirmed.

Don’t miss this chance to hear Allie and Lauren in the best listening environment possible: a private living room. To attend this house concert, RSVP to pearcecreative or 415.706.3800. Seating is limited and this is bound to fill up quickly. Advance reservations are available now at drewpearce.com!

CornerStone Sonoma presents Petracovich and Joe Rathbone

April 3 Party at CornerStone Sonoma

Join us for the second in our new series of acoustic music parties presented in the Grange Sonoma wine tasting room at CornerStone Sonoma. http://cornerstonesonoma.com/ Our Saturday, April 3 show features indie rock and alternative pop by two critically acclaimed songwriters:

PETRACOVICH

JOE RATHBONE

Featured last September on the renowned “Morning Becomes Eclectic” show on KCRW, PETRACOVICH has received glowing reviews from tastemakers such as CMJ, Paste and Pitchfork Media who called her record, “a hypnotic dreamtime soundtrack…a surprisingly enduring album of muffled bedroom folktronica wrapped in the silken sheen of Peters’ subdued songbird voice.”

In a recent review of JOE RATHBONE’s recent release “Under The Scorpio Moon,” Performing Songwriter magazine said Rathbone’s songs “mix melodic, heartland rock with atmospheric flourishes, calling to mind Tom Petty and Joseph Arthur. Tracks such as “Mercury” and “Beautiful Noise” incorporate inventive sonic landscapes, but even among the samples and grooves, Rathbone’s inviting, often tender vocals keep the proceedings human and heartfelt.

Seating is limited, but you can make advance reservations on the Events page of my web site: http://drewpearce.com/events.html

For more info about this show, call (415) 706-3800.

Thanks for supporting live, local music!

Jerry Hannan’s St. Paddy’s Day Party at Seafood Peddler in San Rafael

Mark your calendars and join us for a full-on IRISH EXTRAVAGANZA hosted by Marin’s favorite Irish troubadour, Jerry Hannan!

Wednesday, March 17
JERRY HANNAN’S ST. PADDY’S DAY PARTY
Palm Ballroom at Seafood Peddler
100 Yacht Club Drive
San Rafael, CA 94901
http://www.seafoodpeddler.com/

Advance tickets are available now at http://drewpearce.com/events.html for a discounted price of $12. On the night of the show, tickets will be available at the door for $20. PIZZA IS INCLUDED with the price of admission. Such a deal. So come hungry. Come thirsty. Come ready to dance.

For more info, call me at (415) 706-3800 or email me at pearcecreative@gmail.com

Introducing Stinson Beach House Concerts: acoustic music parties in a cottage by the sea

Stinson Beach House Concerts: acoustic music parties in a cottage by the sea

After a year-long hiatus, I’ve decided to revive my house concert series.

So in addition to the monthly shows I’m hosting at Bazaar Cafe in San Francisco, Sleeping Lady Cafe in Fairfax and CornerStone Sonoma, I’ll be presenting Sunday Night Music Parties in Stinson Beach.

The main difference between these parties and the old house concerts is that I’ll be hosting them at my own cottage (rather than my friends’ homes) and performing as an opener at each show.

Of course, if you dig the idea of living room concerts and feel inspired to host any of these Sunday night music parties at your house, I’m always happy to collaborate. Just email me at drew@drewpearce.com to let me know. You’d be helping me and a bottomless well of talented touring musicians just by providing a space in which to perform. I’d do all the leg work and promoting and hosting and tip jar passing like before. So just say the word and let’s party.

Our first official Sunday night music party features acclaimed singer/songwriter James Hurley on February 21.

Refreshing drinks and tasty snacks will be served. Feel free to bring whatever you like to drink. The BYOB is not required–it’s just a part of the party. $10 donation requested.

RSVP to attend or perform: drew@drewpearce.com. For a full list of upcoming shows, check out my Calendar of Events.

New music series at CornerStone in Sonoma begins Saturday, February 6

In the coming year, I’ll be hosting and promoting a new series of acoustic music parties that will take place in various stores at CornerStone Gardens in Sonoma. Owner Teresa Raffo and I will partner with John Green of the Grange Sonoma Wine Tasting Collective to present our first show on Saturday, February 6 featuring house concert veterans Megan Slankard and Jeff Campbell (of the band Pine & Battery). The staff at Grange will be pouring some delicious selections from their wine list. Tickets will be $10, available at the door on the night of the show. Seating is limited and this event will sell out, so be sure to RSVP to (415) 706-3800 or drew@drewpearce.com if you like to attend.

Rosi Golan at Cafe du Nord

This song by Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Rosi Golan has one of the strongest chorus melodies I’ve heard in a long time — especially when the harmonies kick it up a notch on the second chorus. Powerful. Check it out.

“Transparent Blue” available on BandCamp

My song “Transparent Blue” from the Darrington album Heat Change Vapor + Snow is now available on the BandCamp site. More tracks from that record and others will be available soon.

Brian Gore and Susan Z House Concert Collaboration at Acoustic Vortex

The most surprising thing I learned as a house concert host is how remarkably small the music community is.

Back in 2004, when I began booking shows on a regular basis, I met dozens of singer/songwriters and acoustic musicians who all seemed to be traveling the same path, playing the same venues and festivals up and down the west coast.

Their styles might have been divergent, but what they all had in common—aside from being ridiculously gifted musicians—is that they seemed to be fans of each other’s work. From one house concert to the next, I could see the connections being formed and have been lucky enough to witness the truly inspired collaborations that ensued (Paul Brill’s band backing ambeR Rubarth at Heidi’s house concert last May, for example).

So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to hear that my friends Brian Gore and Susan Z were teaming up to play as a duo at Acoustic Vortex. But I was.

I knew Brian best from his work as founder of the renowned International Guitar Night and had (mistakenly) pigeonholed him as a virtuoso solo fingerstyle guitarist with a knack for phenomenal finger-tapping techniques. I knew Susan Z as the pop/rock songwriter with the soulful voice, Sheryl Crow sing-along choruses, and McCartneyesque chord progressions.

In short, I’d been a fan of them both. Separately. I didn’t know they knew each other. Then I got an Evite from Bruce Victor and the Vortexers announcing a show that would present Brian and Susan as a duo—and I had to rethink my preconceived ideas of who these two musicians were.

I love it when I have to do that. I love being surprised. I love having my expectations subverted. It doesn’t happen often. But it should. I mean, isn’t that goal of art? To show us something we can’t see on our own?

Kudos to Brian and Susan for joining forces in service of these songs. I’m a fan of performing songwriters, for sure. But I’m not one of those purists who thinks a song loses something in the translation if it’s not sung by the person who was inspired by the muse. Sometimes the interpretation takes the song somewhere even better—Jimi Hendrix’s “All Along The Watchtower” and Patsy Cline’s “Crazy” come to mind.

Hearing Z sing Brian’s “Zen Scream” gave me new appreciation for both her voice and his songwriting. Take a listen to this inspired collaboration in the YouTube video above and tell me what you think. Many thanks to Nusi Dekker for capturing the performance on video.

Allie Moss (Ingrid Michaelson Band) at Bay Area House Concerts in Mill Valley

I had the great fortune of hosting a living room concert featuring one of my favorite singer/songwriters in all the land – Allie Moss (Ingrid Michaelson‘s guitarist-singer-sidekick). This is a clip of her encore song, “Rally” from her new record, Passerby. For more info on Bay Area House Concerts, visit http://drewpearce.com/