Next Festival Stop: An American Roadhouse

To make its first annual Eclectic Orange Festival more eclectic and orange, the Philharmonic Society of Orange County, primarily an importer of touring classical musicians, turned to Linda’s Doll Hut, a leading incubator of local rock ‘n’ roll bands.

“To me, Linda Jemison is a bona fide impresaria,” said Sandy Robertson, the society associate director who approached the Doll Hut’s owner about throwing open her tiny, red-painted, nearly 100-year-old wooden barroom in a warehouse district of Anaheim for an Eclectic Orange evening. “It’s a venue that has a history, and this is a county that’s known for its rock ‘n’ roll production. It was an obvious move to think about a rock component of some kind.”

Robertson and Jemison knew each other from volunteer work for the AIDS Services Foundation Orange County; Jemison books bands for the foundation’s annual AIDS Walk benefit.

Robertson and Craddock Stropes, the society’s public relations coordinator, like rock music and had been to the Doll Hut. They met with Jemison, who took it from there, coming up with “The American Roadhouse” as a concept and choosing the bands for the evening--all of them Doll Hut regulars based in Orange County.

“I sat down and thought about what the Doll Hut is and about its impact on the music scene,” Jemison said. “An old roadhouse is what it is, and how many are still around that you can come and see music at?”

Jemison expects “a whole new crowd of people” for the show by Lee Rocker, Chris Gaffney and the Cold Hard Facts, and the Sinners. (A vintage car show and outdoor art exhibit will precede the music). Advance tickets are available only through the Philharmonic Society, and many of the attendees will be society regulars. A far cry from the comfy, plush-seated environs of the Orange County Performing Arts Center and the Irvine Barclay Theatre, where the society usually does its presenting, the Doll Hut offers no creature comforts (a few bar stools, a very well-stocked jukebox, a corner of the floor, sans stage, where bands set up, and restrooms that are, shall we say, functional). But that’s what makes it a roadhouse, and the face-to-face proximity between audience and performers often makes for the most unpretentious and spontaneous kinds of shows.

“Some people may not feel comfortable because it’s a bit run-down and they’re used to much nicer places, but I think they’ll have a good time,” Jemison said. “They should just keep in mind that it’s an old roadhouse.”

Stropes says some ticket buyers have been calling with questions about the evening’s attire. She tells them jeans will do.

“It’s a festival where you go experience a whole mess of things,” she said. “It’s about taking music and putting it in different contexts, showing people that there are connections, that it’s not just pigeonholed and put in cubbyholes. Not being prepared is part of the fun of it.”