Last year, Bay Area musician Bobby Jo Valentine experienced first hand the devastating effects of fire when he lost his home and all of his belongings in the Santa Rosa Tubbs Fire. He is now focusing his energy on helping the victims of the Camp Fire in Paradise, by inspiring several benefit concerts to raise money for those who have suffered the same fate.
We have called upon other Bay Area singer-songwriters to help us create an evening of music and community bonding. Ticketleap has generously agreed to reduce their ticket fees, and we are donating 100% of ticket sales to the North Valley Community Foundation. Novato resident Roberta DiPrete is opening her beautiful Novato home to us as the location for this event. Now all we need is you! We hope you will join us and also participate in a potluck by bringing beverages, appetizers, dishes or desserts to share, as Roberta's house has ample space for imbibing in the kitchen and chatting in cozy corner couches. This will be an evening of wonderful music, story sharing, meeting neighbors and most importantly donating to a worthy cause of helping people in dire need.
About the artists:
Rick Hardin is a songwriter who knows how to express his heart and he has a vocal quality that adds depth to his words. It would be hard to find a performer more in their element on stage; Rick goes somewhere far away while he’s playing and takes the crowd there with him. Born in Napa and raised in Sonoma, Rick Hardin has been writing songs for longer than he can recall. Since 2005 when he released his first Solo EP he has been a voice to remember in the SF Bay Music Scene. Over the last ten years he has frequented the Fillmore’s Poster Room, The KFOG Morning Show, Cafe’ Du Nord, and The Mystic Theater, to name a few. You can listen to Rick here.
Novato-based The Singer and The Songwriter, comprised of singer Rachel Garcia and guitarist Thu Tran, create music as vibrant and diverse as their multiracial backgrounds. Their identities as mixed-race-Mexican-American and first-generation-Vietnamese-American (respectively) subtly inform the perspective of their lyrics, which provide “smart commentary on social attitudes” (Pasadena Weekly), while their music and melodies cut across decades of classic American song forms, bending and blending genres. After meeting in 2006, the California-based duo began writing and performing music together, incorporating influences from different eras of jazz and pop music. While their music hints at vintage styles, the writing remains modern and relevant. In 2012, the duo won the West Coast Songwriters International Song Contest in the Miscellaneous category for their original recording, "The Art of Missing You." Their albums have been praised as “diverse, confident, stylish and accomplished” (Americana-UK) and The Huffington Post said their music "radiates gorgeously contagious melodies, palpitating rhythms and luscious harmonies and, of course, Garcia’s unparalleled voice." Listen to The Singer and The Songwriter here.
San Francisco-based JL Stiles doesn't sound at all like what one might expect from a white, Jewish singer-songwriter born and raised in Connecticut ... especially one who didn't start playing the guitar until he was 18 years old. His rubbery, expressive baritone sounds closest to the sweet croon of the late bluesman Ted Hawkins, and Stiles lays into his 12-string guitar with the vigor and ambition of a streetwise punk who just discovered Leo Kottke. His music emerges, most likely unconsciously, from the hazy notes of forebears like Bob Dylan and John Lee Hooker. Listen to JL Stiles here.
Bobby Jo Valentine is a nationally touring singer/songwriter who grew up on the seaside of Northern California. His songs are both earthbound and mystical, and speak of the gentle, everyday spiritual awakenings of an openhearted life. He’s given a Ted Talk, been awarded Song of the Year three times at the West Coast Songwriter’s Association, and performed all over the globe. His compelling, poetic storytelling and songs have built a growing following of listeners and supporters, and his most recent collections, “Fox Eyes, Whale Heart” and “Maybe Stars,” are available everywhere music is offered online. Watch Bobby Jo's Ted Talk here.
