Booking Discord Parts Zepeda, Kozmos
Veteran independent Southland concert promoter Steve Zepeda has quit his new job booking weekend shows at Kozmos in Huntington Beach after the first two events because of a disagreement with the club’s owner.
“I booked it in the best fashion I know how to book,” says Zepeda, who previously brought local and touring acts into the Foothill club in Signal Hill and, before that, at Bogart’s in Long Beach, “When I presented the lineup to [owner Pam Morgan], she wasn’t happy with it. I totally understand how she felt, and if she didn’t like any of the bands I booked, that’s her preference.”
Morgan, the rock-alternative-funk and dance club’s owner, says, “We have basically agreed to disagree. There are no hard feelings, we just have different wants,” adding that she felt Zepeda’s bookings leaned too heavily on rockabilly acts. “It’s not that I don’t want rockabilly, I just don’t want to book it as frequently as he does, which would more or less be putting the club into the category of rockabilly club.”
In his first round of shows at Kozmos (formerly the Lotus Lounge) last weekend, Zepeda brought singer-songwriter Mike Martt, Gypsy Trash and Kern Richards on Friday, and Fullerton-based nouveau bluegrass group Linsy Wolsye on Saturday.
Zepeda had lined up shows through early March, including Boobie Trap and Wax Apples tonight, solo shows by Paladins guitarist Dave Gonzalez on Thursday and Feb, 28, Big Sandy & His FlyRite Boys on Friday, The Dibs and Wonderlove (Feb. 16), Trucker Up (Feb. 21), Busstop Hurricanes (Feb. 22), Lords of Altamont and the Fabulous Tuscaderos (Feb. 23), Pleasure Club and El Mysterioso (March 1), and Three Bad Jacks and Aces & Eights (March 2).
Morgan said Boobie Trap and Wax Apples will play tonight as scheduled and that Delta Nove and Jerome have been booked on Friday in place of Big Sandy. She said she’s still waiting to hear from other acts about whether they’ll keep their dates.
Zepeda continues to handle Monday night shows at the Blue Cafe in Long Beach.
Jazz Series Aids Autism
A jazz series that’s also a fundraiser for a new autism organization starts tonight in Huntington Beach. Danish-born saxophonist Michael Lington plays the inaugural concert at the Huntington Beach Cultural Center.
The concerts benefit the Pyramid Autism Center in Huntington Beach, a facility that includes a school for autistic children and support services for their families, The jazz series was started by Betty Bennish, who also works on the annual Newport Beach Jazz Festival and whose niece is autistic.
Tickets “are $20 to $50, and performances are at 7 and 9 p.m. in the cultural center’s 319-seat theater at 7111 Talbert Ave. Information: (7141) 377-7574 or www.bbjazzcentral.com
Hootenanny Travels
The annual Hootenanny Festival will take place July 6 and for the first time the Orange County-bred roots rock-meets-punk event will hit the road as well. In addition to the Orange County stop, festival organizers have booked dates July 5 in San Diego and July 7 in San Francisco. If those shows are a success, Hootenanny could go national.
“You want to build from the ground up,” says Hootenanny promoter Bill Hardie. “I’d hate to see us book 20 cities and then have to cancel 10. So we’ll try three this year, maybe six next year and then 12 the next. That makes much more sense. But San Diego and San Francisco are naturals.”
Last year’s, Hootenanny drew about 10, 000 fans to Hidden Valley Ranch in Irvine.
Crystal Lewis on BET
Newport Beach-based contemporary Christian singer Crystal Lewis is among the performers featured in “Celebration of Gospel,” airing Feb. 19 at 9 p.m. on the BET-cable channel. The show is BET’s second gospel concert special offered as part of its Black History Month programming. In addition to Lewis--who sings “My Tribute” with Andrae Crouch and “The Blood Song” with Kirk Franklin--Destiny’s Child, Shirley Caesar, Yolanda Adams and Jaci Velasquez also performed at the concert, which took place Jan. 26 at the Wiltern Theatre in Los Angeles
TSOL on National Tour
Orange County-Long Beach punk group TSOL is headlining a national tour of hard core punk acts that started this week in Minneapolis. The Unity Fest tour also includes Agnostic Front, The Casualties and Rise Against, and will reach Southern California later this month. Local stops include shows Feb. 21 at Chain Reaction in Anaheim, Feb. 22 at the Glass House in Pomona and Feb. 23 at the Palace in Hollywood. TSOL’s record company, the Offspring-owned Nitro Records in Huntington Beach, is conducting a ticket giveaway for those three dates over its Web site, www.nitrorecords.com.