UCLA Live Announces its Stellar 07/08 Roots Music Series Featuring Rare Appearances and Reunion Concerts, Plus Two Pop Events

Looking to hear an incomparable mix of folk, rock and blues?  Be sure to attend the UCLA Live 2007/08 Roots Series as legends of the genre perform in an outstanding combination of rare appearances and reunion concerts. Showcasing five decades of socially-conscious singer-songwriters and pioneering music icons, the series features one of the world’s most critically acclaimed and prolific artists, East L.A.’s own three-time Grammy-winning native sons, a beloved classic American folksinger and an exclusive all-star musical tribute to a seminal Hollywood music club.

The Roots Series opens in September 2007 with The Richard Thompson Band, featuring the British folk-rock guitarist-songwriter in his first full band performance in three years, and continues in February 2008 with one of the country’s preeminent rock ’n’ roll bands, Los Lobos, in a special program created for UCLA Live. In April, celebrated musical storyteller Arlo Guthrie makes a rare solo acoustic appearance, and the Roots Series concludes with an outstanding tour de force of musical talent performing in a pair of concert events honoring a venerable Los Angeles venue, The Ash Grove 50th Anniversary: “Legend and Legacy.”  A pair of pop music events includes the April 2008 West Coast premiere of Laurie Anderson’s “Homeland,” a fusion of music, poetry and theater exploring the erosion of freedom in the name of security. In November 2007, the London cult cabaret trio The Tiger Lilies, fronted by opera-trained accordionist Martyn Jacques, present the new macabre masterpiece “Misery Guts.”

All evening performances begin at 8 p.m. and will be held at Royce Hall on the UCLA campus. Series and Choose-Your-Own subscriptions consist of multiple events sold at a discount when applicable, and are on sale now. Single tickets are on sale as of July 23 (July 16 for current subscribers and donors). To purchase tickets visit www.UCLALive.org or call         310-825-2101           .

UCLA LIVE’S 07/08 ROOTS SERIES
Friday, Sept. 28, 2007, at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
The Richard Thompson Band—“Electric”
With Pete Zorn, guitar, vocals; Michael Jerome, drums; and Taras Prodaniuk, electric bass
The consummate singer, composer and guitar hero gets electric with a full band, and political with searing anti-war songs from his 2007 CD, “Sweet Warrior,” in a rare concert by The Richard Thompson Band. Renowned long-time touring and recording collaborators reunite, performing selections from Thompson’s astounding 40-year body of work. A founding member of Fairport Convention, Thompson’s idiosyncratic and influential blend of traditional British folk and American rock has been covered by dozens of artists ranging from Bonnie Raitt to David Byrne and Elvis Costello.
 
Friday, Feb. 1, 2008, at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
Los Lobos
Melding folkloric acoustic works with a rock electric set, David Hidalgo, Conrad Lozano, Louie Perez, Cesar Rosas and Steve Berlin return to Royce Hall in a special program for UCLA Live featuring traditional Mexican songs and the classics that have made Los Lobos an L.A. legend. Blending blues, rockabilly, jazz, Latin and their own Mexican-American heritage, the group has masterfully crafted conscience-raising songs and thought-provoking lyrics for over three decades.

Thursday, April 17 at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
Arlo Guthrie
Solo Reunion Tour—“Together at Last”
After 50 years of touring with other artists, the famed folk singer Arlo Guthrie returns to his roots as a one-man band, performing with nothing but a couple of guitars and a harmonica. Son of the great Woody Guthrie, Arlo is known for his distinctive style and commitment to social activism. Performing the music that was shaping the country in the 1960s, his career soared with the anti-establishment anthem “Alice’s Restaurant,” made into the now classic 1969 film starring Guthrie.
 
UCLA LIVE EXCLUSIVE
Friday–Saturday, April 18–19 at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
The Ash Grove 50th Anniversary—“Legend and Legacy”
With Taj Mahal, The Chamber Brothers, Dwight Trible, Michelle Shocked, Dave Alvin, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Dr. Demento (aka Barry Hansen), Culture Clash, Mike Seeger, Roland White, Ry Cooder and more TBD
Two star-studded reunion concerts honor the landmark Hollywood club that hosted hundreds of legendary artists—from Howlin’ Wolf and Muddy Waters to Johnny Cash and Pete Seeger—until it burned to the ground for a third and final time in 1973. Opened in 1958 by Ed Pearl, The Ash Grove was a notorious home to the social and political movements of its time. The concerts feature a different program each night and are central to a soon-to-be-announced weekend-long UCLA festival about the era with teach-ins and art installations by musicians, songwriters, poets and professors.
 
UCLA LIVE’S POP MUSIC EVENTS
 
Saturday, Nov. 3, 2007, at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
The Tiger Lillies—“Misery Guts”
An international sensation for their music in the 1998 “junk opera,” “Shockheaded Peter,” The Tiger Lillies are Britain’s favorite purveyors of the macabre, led by the bizarre and beautiful falsetto of Martyn Jacques. Following their 2003 Grammy-nominated collaboration with the Kronos Quartet,
The Tiger Lillies return to Royce Hall with their eccentric mix of perverted drama and black comedy.
 
Thursday, April 10, 2008, at 8 p.m., Royce Hall
Laurie Anderson—“Homeland”
Today’s top performance artist, Laurie Anderson is joined by a trio of musicians in the West Coast premiere of “Homeland,” a combination poem, play and concert. Using technology and the sensuous language of songwriting and poetry, Anderson explores American style totalitarianism, examining the relationship of fear and freedom, the increasing acceptance of violence and the vocabulary of war.
 
Tickets: Series and Choose-Your-Own subscriptions consist of multiple events sold at a discount when applicable, and are on sale now.  Single tickets are on sale as of July 23 (July 16 for current subscribers and donors). Tickets may be purchased online at www.UCLALive.org, via phone at         310-825-2101            or in person at the UCLA Central Ticket Office at the southwest corner of the James West Alumni Center, and at all Ticketmaster outlets.