Bare Roots : It’s back to basics as fans clamor for acoustic sound

On a recent Friday night, with just her voice and a guitar, Amye Walsh captured the audience at Hollywood’s 8121 club with a song about a friend’s drug-related death.

A few miles away, Jerry Giddens of Walking Wounded took his solo acoustic act, featuring cuts from his new album, “Living Ain’t Easy,” to the Breakaway in Mar Vista. Dozens applauded.

These clubs, along with McCabe’s in Santa Monica and the Comeback Inn in Venice, have expanded the options for both musicians and fans who seek acoustic music in Los Angeles. Even a room like the Central in West Hollywood, known for its up-tempo, electronic rock, is including more acoustic acts on its schedule.

“Everybody wants to hear something simple,” said Nina Heller, booking agent/manager for the all-acoustic 8121, which opened in March and features live music Wednesday through Sunday nights. “They’re tired of the overkill of production and technology. They want to hear songs that tell stories.”

John Chelew, booking agent for McCabe’s, points to the recent success of such artists as Tracy Chapman and X’s John Doe as a catalyst for the renewed interest in acoustic music. Doe’s frequent solo gigs are automatic sellouts.

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Among other artists who have performed acoustic material at McCabe’s in recent months: John Stewart, John Hiatt and Bob Mould. Chelew said shows that drew about 50 people--one-third of the club’s 150-seat capacity--two years ago, regularly sell out now and require two separate performances in one evening.

“We used to have a much harder time selling tickets,” he said. “But with the resurgence of acoustic music, we have to turn people away from some shows.”

Moreover, he said, by venturing from the security of a highly popular rock ‘n’ roll band to acoustic solo shows, Doe--along with Mould, former vocalist and lead guitarist of Husker Du--issued a challenge to other performers: Could their music, greatly enhanced by computerized instruments and slick production, stand being stripped to the base of its lyrics and sound?

“In other words,” Chelew asked, “how good is the song? If a song can be completely realized with only the bare tools of a voice and guitar, it says a lot about the integrity of the song.”

According to Heller, whose club features an open audition Sunday nights, not every musician can meet that challenge.

“To pull off an acoustic set instead of a bombardment of stimuli takes a lot of talent,” Heller said. “And I see great electric bands who realize they’re not as talented as they thought. Underneath it all, the song isn’t that good, or there’s no song at all.”

Heller said many of the musicians wanting to play 8121 have experienced trouble forming a band and realize that the acoustic route means that they can polish their material while they wait. “And many just fall into the solo thing, seeing they don’t have to depend on others to make rehearsals.”

Performers at 8121 entertain for about 50 minutes apiece. There is no cover charge, and Heller does not pay the acts. The club can seat about 75.

The Breakaway, according to manager Jay Tinsky, has become a place for acoustic performers to “network and hobnob.” The club, which features live acoustic music every night, seats about 75. Tinsky said some lineups draw about 200 fans in one night.

The cover charge is $2 Thursdays and Sundays and $5 Fridays and Saturdays. There is no cover Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. McCabe’s usually charges between $10 and $15 for its concerts, held Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights. The Comeback Inn, which was almost closed a few months ago, features acoustic music regularly, specializing in sounds from South America. The cover charge varies from $3 to $7.

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Well-known or not, performers at the 8121 appreciate the chance to play at all. Other clubs, they complain, are too restrictive.

“You have to have a following before they’ll allow you to play,” said George McQuistion, who regularly plays guitar at 8121. “So then if you’re lucky, you get enough friends to play there. But people are better judges of your music when you don’t know them.”

McQuistion said the club’s intimacy, imperative for the soul-baring mood of acoustic music, suits him perfectly. “You can actually meet people here.” Both McCabe’s and the Breakaway share the same type of closeness between performer and fan.

Walsh, 25, of Studio City has been writing songs for a decade. She finally senses an outlet for her expression.

“It’s been very frustrating for me,” Walsh said. “There really should be more clubs in L.A. that play this kind of music.”

Chelew believes that it’s only a matter of time.

“We could use three or four more places for acoustic music on the Westside, and they would thrive,” Chelew said. “The more places, the better for the scene, and I think that’s what you’re going to see.”

Heller is equally optimistic, although she was concerned about the club’s initial poor crowds.

“At 11 p.m., it would be just me, the bartender and the doorman,” she recalled. “But I knew things would turn around. Now there are lines on Saturday night. We have to keep people outside, waiting for the turnover.”