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Music Scene
© A Publication of Presidio Communications | November 2013
Machado Foundation 2nd Annual Benefit
Jason Mraz and Goo Goo Dolls’ John Rzeznik Perform”
By Richard Cone
Rob Machado – legendary surfer, environmental activist and musician – has put together a stellar lineup for the Second Annual benefit concert for the Rob Machado Foundation http://robmachadofoundation.org), which will take place on Monday, November 11, at The Belly Up in Solana Beach. MultiGrammy award-winning pop troubadour Jason Mraz will be performing acoustic at this intimate event and The Goo Goo Dolls front man John Rzeznik, who played last year’s sold-out RMF concert, will return for a special solo acoustic set. Breakout Los Angeles band Run River North round out the bill. Doors will open at 7:00 p.m. and the show will begin at 8 p.m. Machado is not just one of the world’s greatest surfers; he’s one of the sport’s most recognizable characters, a living icon who continues to expand the definition of what professional surfing is all about. Machado was consistently among the top seeded competitors while on the ASP World Tour. With 12 career WCT victories, Machado has been among the elite top ten most popular surfers since 1996 on Surfer Magazine’s Surfer Poll. He was inducted into the Surfer’s Hall of Fame in 2000, awarded the prestigious honor of Waterman’s of the Year by the Surf Industry Manufacturers Association (SIMA) in 2009 and, in 2011, the City
of Huntington Beach California awarded him a star on the Surfing Walk of Fame. Mraz has taken his musical journey from coffee houses like LeStat’s, to stadiums globally and now has two Grammy Awards and six Grammy nominations to his credit. He has also received the Songwriters Hall of Fame’s esteemed Hal David Starlight Award, and, in 2013, fans voted Mraz “Favorite Male Artist” at the 39th annual People’s Choice Awards. Mraz’s latest album, “Love is a Four Letter Word,” debuted in the Top 15 in 13 countries including #2 in the United States and the United Kingdom with the first single, “I Won’t Give Up” debuting in the #1 slot on Billboard’s “Digital Songs” chart one week after its release. Singer, songwriter, guitarist, and producer John Rzeznik has become one of the most globally respected and influential forces in popular music history, selling more than 10 million albums with his band, The Goo Goo Dolls. As a composer, Rzeznik has penned hundreds of songs including instantly recognizable Number One and Top Ten multiformat hit singles like “Name,”
Jason Mraz, courtesy of jasonmraz.com.
“Slide,” “Black Balloon,” and “Broadway.” “Iris,” from the City Of Angels soundtrack, spent nearly 12 straight months on the Billboard and was recently named the biggest pop radio song of the last 20 years. In the course of a few short months, Run River North went from playing a handful of hometown shows in Los Angeles to performing to an audience of millions on late-night show “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” It was an explosive trajectory for the sextet (then called Monsters Calling Home). Produced by Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Built to Spill, Band of Horses), Run River
North’s self-titled debut album is set for release on February 25, 2014 via Nettwerk Records. The band mates all come from families who moved to Southern California from Asia, and the album reflects their shared search for a sense of home while also addressing the universal struggle for identity. Tickets for the show are $80 to $200 and the high end ticket gets you a VIP early entry, a meet and greet with Rob Machado and John Rzeznik, and a nice swag bag from the Machado Foundation. Loft seats may be available by calling the Belly Up at (858) 481-8140.
Kayte Grace’s New Release Reveals Crumbling of Music Industry Norms After releasing three albums, two singles and touring the country—all within four years of teaching herself to play guitar—YouTube and Washington Post favorite, alternative “folktry” singer/songwriter Kayte Grace’s fivechapter musical novel. “Set Fire to Separate Lives” is being released over the course of a year to fans who’ll be able to pay what they like for every EP. The 22-song collection, funded by an IndieGoGo campaign and recorded over 50 hours in Brooklyn, traces the anatomy of “forever love” in all of its brilliance, delight and dirty corners. Grace’s music is an explosion of folk, blues, pop and rock, held together by warm-voiced, sing-along-able melodies and rich, resonant lyrics. Grace breaks three age-old music industry rules with this year-long concept project: the label funded album, the album concept itself and selling music www.PresidioSentinel.com
at a fixed price. Grace’s upcoming 5 EP release was crowdfunded on IndieGoGo, the 22 total songs (two albums worth of material) will be released in five “chapters,” one every few months, and the EPs will be “pay what you want.” In his article, “Stop Making Them Wait & Give Them the Music,” British music writer Tom Satchwell writes, “Release more often and you can work on different EPs which lets you experiment with your music, while giving your fans more to listen to, more to talk about and more to share.” Grace, who’s been called an “impressive, talented musician” by the Washington Post is the cousin of fivetime Grammy Winner, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones bassist Victor Wooten, and has released three albums, two singles and gone on several national tours —all within a few years of first picking up a guitar. She says, of her newest project,
“‘Chapter 1: Say Yes’ is the soundtrack to the falling-inlove montage that happens a third of the way into romantic comedies. Nothing messy has happened yet. Grace has also acted professionally for over 15 years, landing roles in national commercials and on TV shows like Law & Order: SVU, Gossip Girl and HBO’s The Wire. Grace’s 4-song EP, “Chapter 1: Say Yes” was released on October 14th and is available for purchase at: www. kaytegracemusic.com and http://kaytegrace. bandcamp.com/album/ chapter-1-say-yes.
Kayte Grace photo courtesy of the Washington Christian Academy Alumni Association.