S.f. bay area acoustic

[jaco]

Going to California next month and wondering where to go in the bay area for live acoustic music. Any tips greatly appreciated.

[Maria]

The Freight & Salvage in Berkeley should definitely be on your list.

The Freight

[fishdawg40]

Going to California next month and wondering where to go in the bay area for live acoustic music. Any tips greatly appreciated.

Lucky you....

[Bill Foss]

The Berkeley Old Time Music Convention that will feature the Foghorn String Band. The Foghorns have one of the most dynamic, powerhouse old time mandolin players ever, Caleb Klauder. He should be more well known on the Cafe.

The event runs from Sep 11-14.

http://www.berkeleyoldtimemusic.org

http://www.myspace.com/billfossmusic

[EggerRidgeBoy]

I'd second the Freight & Salvage recommendation. I try to get there every time I visit the Bay area. It's one of my favorite venues anywhere in the country, not just in California.

[Paul Kotapish]

Mike,

The Freight is definitely the cornerstone of the acoustic-music scene in the Bay Area, but there are many more venues that might also be of interest, depending on what you are into. The Plough & Stars and the Starry Plough and several other spots feature Irish-oriented performances and sessions, McGrath's and a couple other spots regularly host bluegrass, Eric Shoenberg's shop, the Bazaar Cafe, and several other spots feature great fingerstyle acoustic guitar shows, and several clubs, including the Little Fox, Don Quixote's, and another dozen or so spots in the East Bay, San Francisco, and Marin regularly feature acoustic artists. There are some regular old-time sessions, too, and a few clubs that have acoustic string jazz, choro, etc.

Let us know when you are going to be out here and what you are most interested in and maybe we can point you in the right direction.

The SF Gate Site is a pretty good place to start, and but there are more targeted lists and resources for fans of bluegrass, old-time, contradancing, jazz, jam-band, Italian, Latin, and pretty much anything else you can think of.

If you can stick around until early October, you'll catch the free Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival, one of the best acoustic extravaganzas anywhere.

Have fun.

PK

[jaco]

Thanks for the input folks. We get in on 9/19 and spend 10 days. Paul thanks for the SF Gate link, it's very helpful. Really looking forward to this trip. Have the Freight marked in a must. Thanks again.

[Treblemaker]

1) Go to Amnesia on any Monday Night: www.Amnesiathebar.com. - (it's on Valencia between 19th and 20th in the Mission in SF) for terrific local, and sometimes national level bluegrass.

2) The Atlas Cafe at 20th and Alabama - also on the Mission has fine local bluegrass on Thursday Evenings and Saturday Afternoons (www.atlascafe.net).

3) The Plough and Stars in SF - on Clement Street in the Richmond District also has bluegrass as well as acoustic and Irish live music on a regular basis: (www.theploughandstars.com)

4) The Bazaar Cafe on California at 20th Avenue in the Richmond is a fine all acoustic venue that features all original singer songwriters 7 days a week: (www.bazaarcafe.com)

5) Other venues to google are: Velo Rouge, Cafe Du Nord, Giordano Brothers Cafe, Grant & Green, Great American Music Hall, The Fillmore and Jambase.com - and for Berkeley: Starry Plough, Nomad Cafe, Blake's and the Grand.

Ted "Treblemaker" Silverman
www.WorldWideTed.com

[Paul Kotapish]

Mike,

You'll be here during the Downtown Berkeley Music, which runs this weekend, August 21–24. Lots of free events and great concerts for a reasonable fee.

I'll be playing on the stage at the Berkeley Farmer's Market in Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Park on Saturday afternoon from 1–3 with a streamlined version of Wake the Dead (mando, octave mando, fiddle/pipes, bass, guitar, vocals doing Grateful Dead stuff as channeled through the Bothy Band). That show is free, and the market scene is great.

There's another great free show at the Jupiter pup on Sunday with three of the areas best musicians--Keith Little, Jody Stecher, and Chad Manning. That should be wonderful. If you don't already know them, you should. Killer singing and playing. Jody plays mando with Peter Rowan these days, Keith has performed with Emmylou Harris and just about everyone else, and Chad is in David Grisman's bluegrass band.

Lots of other good stuff, too. Check out the schedule and maps at: Downtown Berkeley Music Fest Calendar.

A lot of the free international music events this weekend are happening at the One World Walk Center on University Avenue.

Check it out.