Venice Beach Music Fest
Willie Chambers

Willie Chambers confirmed for September 21, 2013! True to the spirit of “Time Has Come Today,” The Chambers Brothers’ classic, perennially popular 1968 song that launched the four sibling vocal ensemble to global superstardom, Willie Chambers continues to bring a timeless energy and musical excitement and innovation to audiences today, whether he’s playing rock and roll or the gospel music that first inspired he an his famous siblings to write, record and perform. Longtime Chambers Brothers fans and rock historians well remember the time in the 60s and 70s when, like their West Coast contemporaries Sly and the Family Stone, the constantly touring groups shattered racial and musical divides to forge an incendiary fusion of funk, gospel, blues, and psychedelia. In the years before the they achieved household name status – which came via a string of appearances in the Big Apple circa 1965, introduced by none other than Bob Dylan – the brothers were a church born and bred group that broke ground and pushed cultural boundaries. The group helped draw more than 400,000 fans to Atlanta Pop II. The Chambers Brother’s global smashes “People Get Ready,” “Can’t Turn You Loose” and “Love, Peace and Happiness,” welded together rock’s electric energy with musical roots from the Brother’s native Mississippi into exhilarating masterpieces that remain classics today. Over the past fifteen years, Willie has led two Los Angeles-based bands that added to his legacies in both the rock and gospel worlds. In the mid-to-late 90s, billing himself as a solo artist, he toured extensively with his rock-based unit, performing at clubs and festivals on the West Coast and Canada, including dates in San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, and Spokane. Willie Chambers was born and raised in Lee County, Mississippi. He moved to Los Angeles in 1954, where he began performing gospel and folk throughout Southern California. In 1965 the addition of white drummer Brian Keenan not only made the Chambers Brothers an interracial group, but pushed their music closer to rock & Roll. The group signed to Columbia to issue Time Has Come Today, scoring a major pop hit with the title track, an 11 minute psychedelic soul epic in its original album incarnation. The song has been used on over 100 film and TV soundtracks, including Oliver Stone’s The Doors, Spike Lee’s Crooklyn, Coming Home and Girl, Interrupted. The classic song “Love, Peace, and Happiness” soon followed. Armed with the love, peace, and happiness he carries in his heart, Willie Chambers still has a magnetic way of reaching into the hearts and souls of music fans everywhere. Sharing his music throughout the world, he will continue to do his part to convey the message to the world that we can live together as one.
LOONER

LOONER, a Los-Angeles based rock band, is the husband-and-wife songwriting team of Angel Roché Jr. and Zoë Poledouris Roché. The couple has spent the last twelve years seamlessly melding their disparate backgrounds of salsa, orchestral composition, jazz, pop, industrial, and reggae into a signature sound distinguishable by Zoë’s haunting vocals and Angel’s locomotive beats. Their songs are a curious mixture of the dark and the light—piercing lyrics entwine with poppy melodies, and catchy hooks are underscored by fuzzy prog rock riffs. Under the spell of their undeniable style that they call Steady Rock, even covers find themselves LOONERfied in an instant. Two people from different worlds, the Rochés found a connection in their devotion to music. Zoë, raised in Encino, California, is the daughter of the late renowned film composer Basil Poledouris, and boasts major motion picture songwriting, scoring, and acting credits of her own. Angel, raised on the south side of Chicago, is the son of Puerto Rican immigrants, and spent his childhood playing drums in his father’s 16-piece church salsa band. When the couple connected with a fiery kiss at the Viper Room in 2000, they knew immediately they would commit to each other for life—but their musical union surprised them both. “She unleashed the songwriting monster within me,” says Angel. “I started hearing melodies and playing guitar.” They took a line from a movie, Teenage Caveman, to name their new endeavor, and used a looping technique on stage that gave them a full band sound. Songs would begin with Angel creating rhythmic “beds” on beatbox or guitar, while Zoë folded in a bass line and layers of vocals. The result was finely crafted songs that built to a consuming climax, leaving audiences marveling at the all-encompassing soundscape from stage. With their live technique perfected, they independently produced three albums: The First Five (2002), Follow the LOONER (2003), and Rules (2004), while Angel was busy playing drums and percussion in Dave Navarro’s and Ziggy Marley’s bands. In 2004, LOONER joined the national Roots, Rock, Reggae tour as the only rock act on the bill, and in 2006, released another album, The Greatest Weakness. By 2009, the couple had added Damon Ramirez (Fungo Mungo) on keyboard and synthesizer, and set out on a six-week cross-country tour that celebrated the release of their infectious pop single “I Love My Tamagotchee” and its B-side, a hypnotic remake of the ‘80s reggae hit, ”Dutchie.” “We wanted to be able to play songs from the get-go, instead of having to build all of them,” says Zoë. “Damon added that fullness.” But although the band expanded, the Roché’s songwriting remained the same: bare naked lyrics that speak to the ups and downs of human relationships, juxtaposed over danceable beats and unexpected stylistic twists and turns. The Rochés let us in on their intimacy (hear the desire in Angel’s voice on “While She Sleeps” when he sings, “Does she dream of how our life will be”), while they allow us to recall our own passions (instantly relive a magical moment through “Ordinary Woman” as Zoë sultrily croons, “When our fingers touch/I lose my breath ‘cause you’re too much.” We feel her betrayal as our own in “Had None”: “You saw what you wanted/You took what you wanted/And now you walk around/As if you had none”, and find our own fortitude in “Don’t You Know”: “You can do anything you try/To those who say it’s just a waste of time/One great big kick right in the eye.” LOONER’s latest lineup includes Michelle Rangel (Go Betty Go) on bass and newcomer Yuichiro Asami on guitar, and the band is currently releasing songs one single at a time from their album Year of the Ox (2012), a nod to the Chinese astrological sign for 1973, the year both Angel and Zoë were born. It is a sign whose telltale trait is determination, and the songs on the album were written during 2009, another Year of the Ox, while the couple was expecting their daughter, Jesse, who has made them even more resolute to rise to the top of life’s waves. “Make It Happen” is a call to action anthem that strikes at the heart of anyone who ever had a dream. “Sunshine” is about allowing love to shine through the darkest hour. On YOTO, LOONER’s depth of songwriting holds up a musical mirror and reflects the realities of life, while providing a lose-yourself-and-dance good time! “LOONER is our life project,” says Zoë, and Angel adds that because their goal is to try every style of music, they may just be getting started. “We want to be just hitting our stride when we’re fifty.” by Joy Rosenberg
Hailing from sunny San Diego, Jet West is inspired by great waves, strong drinks, and tan women. This five piece band formed in the fall of 2008 as an independent, Rock/Reggae band and hasn’t slowed down since. The band's varied musical style fuses traditional rock with elements of reggae and hard rock, a sound born from the beaches of LA and San Diego. The group as a whole emits the laid back California vibe that demands a beer in the hand and a steady beating head. Whether thumping from a car, hitting hard in some ear-buds or blaring loudly to a massive energetic crowd, Jet West will introduce your ears to a unique blend of music that will put you in a good mood anywhere, anytime. In 2010, Jet West released their first full length album, “Dropping In” on their independent label, Hidden Reef Records, and a musical journey around the nation was spawned. Their debut album was nominated in the San Diego Music Awards for best new World Music Album 2011. Jet West has shared the stage with such big names as Slightly Stoopid, RX Bandits, Authority Zero, The Aggrolites, Tomorrows Bad Seeds and Seedless.
Brethren of the Coast

Brethren of the Coast is a rock n' roll band formed in Malibu, CA by Duane Betts, Damon Webb, and Pedro J Arevalo. Duane and Damon started playing together in the Malibu band BackBone69, and later made headlines with California bad boys Whitestarr. Duane went on to work with platinum rockers Puddle of Mudd, and has played on stage with everyone from Jack Johnson and G. Love, to Kid Rock He later -toured with his fathers band Dickey Betts & Great Southern along side Pedro J Arevalo, a vocalist and multi instrumentalist vagabond.


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