There are some moments in history when time seems to stand still. The human spirit coalesces. A current takes hold and sweeps us into a community more expansive than ourselves. These are times when individual people come together to create something so special it will never be forgotten.
Return to Laurel Canyon
Sept. 12 | 12:30 p.m.
Tahoe City Community Center | Tahoe City
In American music, there are periods we remember: Harlem jazz in the 1920s, Greenwich Village folk music and Detroit’s Motown of the 60s. By the late 60s, something equally magical was happening in Southern California.
Tucked in the mountains north of Hollywood, Laurel Canyon was a bastion for free-thinking, genre-bending musicians of the day, where talented artists hung out in shady backyards sharing songs and writing the popular, heartfelt music of the times.
“The whole idea is we’re playing music by artists who lived in Laurel Canyon in the late 60s. That was a such a magical place in time and we just wanted to keep that spirit alive.” –Ben Martin
When Tahoe City Public Utility District (TCPUD) board member and longtime community activist Judy Friedman watched a 2018 rockumentary about this West Coast epoch, “Echo in the Canyon,” she was reminded of just how inspiring that time and place really was. So, Friedman asked Ben Martin, the director of Tahoe Truckee School of Music, if he could organize a concert around a Laurel Canyon theme as a benefit for his program.
The fundraiser concert, “Return to Laurel Canyon,” will be held on Sept. 12, at the former Tahoe Maritime Museum now owned by the TCPUD. Now being called Tahoe City Community Center, the property has a large outdoor space where the concert will take place.
“She’s been a champion for Tahoe City itself, for the community,” says Martin of Friedman. “The whole idea is we’re playing music by artists who lived in Laurel Canyon in the late 60s. That was a such a magical place in time and we just wanted to keep that spirit alive.”
All proceeds will go to the nonprofit music school. Founded in 2009, the program has locations in Truckee and Tahoe City where they offer lessons and free instrument rentals. Scholarships are available for families in need.
The concert kicks off at 12:30 p.m. with local student group Kai & The Monsters.
“They started in elementary school and now they’re in high school,” says Martin. “They just keep getting better and better. It’s been fun watching them grow up together. They sound great. It’s gonna be hard to go on after them.”
At 1 p.m., The Sugar Pines house band will take the stage. Featuring Brian Silverman on keyboards, Steve Kershisnik on drums, Evan Laboissonniere on bass and David Diamond (founding member of American new wave band Berlin) on rhythm guitar, the group represents some of the purest musical talent in the region.
A variety of lead vocalists will take the stage to perform songs by Bob Dylan, The Byrds, The Mama & The Papas, The Doors, Bonnie Raitt, Joni Mitchell, Arlo Guthrie, The Eagles, Dusty Springfield, The Monkees, Buffalo Springfield and Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young.
The lineup of local singers includes Jordan Breslow, Emily Quinn, Jonathan Hennion, Joy Wrigley, Trina Gold, Alex Boyd and Tim High. In addition, Matt Axton, son of legendary songwriter Hoyt Axton, will perform two songs written by his father: “Joy to the World” and “Never Been to Spain.”
“That era is known for writing songs about how you really feel,” says Martin. “I think it’s very genuine. It was not contrived. I think they were expressing themselves and the sentiment of the times. It was before the music got so commercialized. It was just a key period when things were changing. Musicians these days are probably technically more proficient, but I feel like the songwriting then was spectacular. Those musicians — they hung out together, fed off each other and inspired each other.”
Low-back chairs and coolers are welcome at the event. Online tickets are $25 for general admission, $10 for ages 12 and younger. | tahoemusic.net
