POP WEEKEND : Shade Tree Branches Out as Showcase for Local Talent

With some luck, the Shade Tree instrument shop in Laguna Niguel could become Orange County’s scaled-down answer to McCabe’s Guitar Shop, the Santa Monica music store that doubles as the prime L.A. acoustic music club.

Owners Greg and Margie Mirken took a promising first step toward that goal Saturday with the first in a series of five concerts featuring local talent. If the inaugural run of shows succeeds, the Mirkens say, they’ll book other series that offer concerts on a semiweekly basis, and perhaps eventually offer live shows every Saturday night.

For now, the Shade Tree looks like Orange County’s best bet to emerge as a showplace for original local talent and as a magnet for the many touring folk performers (other than the big names who play the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano) who now bypass the county for lack of a place to play.

The attendance--42 paying customers in a cozy, carpeted instrument showroom that can hold about 60--exceeded expectations, Margie Mirken said. The performances on a bill showcasing three Orange County songwriters served to raise expectations. Rex Benson and Dennis Roger Reed are talents to keep an eye on, and the Shade Tree promises to become a forum where Orange County music fans can watch them and others like them progress.

Benson, who already has had some success placing songs with country music figures, including Mickey Gilley and Mel Tillis, proved in his set that an emphatic, feeling-filled performance can compensate for average vocal gifts. He has a knack for pretty balladry and the sharp wordplay that defines good Nashville songwriting. Some day the people who heard Benson on Saturday night may be bragging about how they were the first to hear “The Other Side of Love,” a beautiful, instantly grabbing romantic ballad that he said he had just written.

Reed offered several helpings of strong country and bluegrass-style material, rollicking tunes and ballads alike, with some nice, dry wit on the side to help wash it all down. Like Benson, his main professional aim is to get his songs recorded by others, but he has the presence to carry a live performance. Helping Reed were his brother, Don, with some tasty lead guitar work, and Judy Clark, who lent her sweet soprano to “Waiting for Your Next Call,” a lovely treatment of the familiar long-distance lovers theme.

Craig Richter’s songs had melodic appeal, but he was clearly nervous and ill at ease in his brief opening set. But that’s the nice thing about a venture like the Shade Tree concerts: It can give developing local talents a place to learn and grow, both by playing themselves and by watching from close-up while experienced talents perform.