West Coast Live

Artist Description

If your idea of musical variety is Bach and Beethoven, please prepare yourself for an aural paradigm morph. West Coast Live's musical focus is on American and Western roots music; music derived from styles invented or developed here, and kept alive by local traditions rather than music videos. We have featured bluegrass, swing, jazz, the blues, a capella, cabaret, classical and Southern California surf rock. Some of the better-known acts to appear on our stage are Ben Harper, Lyle Lovett, Taj Mahal, and The Neville Brothers.

At the same time, there is such a wealth of styles in California alone, most genres of music have found a few groups here. So, in order to reflect the musical diversity surrounding us, we have welcomed artists influenced by styles from around the globe: flamenco guitarists, Tuvan throat singers, tango dancers, taiko drummers, and Irish balladeers. The resulting combination is as fun as it is educational, and is all woven together by the steady hands of our house pianists, Mike Greensill and Gini Wilson.

Equally as rewarding as the variety and quality of West Coast Live's musical offerings is Sedge Thomson's desire to engage them in conversations about their craft. Though told in halting English, North-African band Lo'Jo's story of their mid-Sahara caravan concert was enthralling. Arlo Guthrie remembered learning guitar from a young Bob Dylan in his father's back yard. "Writing songs with Bob Dylan is like casting down-stream from a great fisherman-- he catches all the good ones," said Arlo.