Folk Music Concerts
The following folk music concerts are presented by The Living Tradition. These concerts feature international and local artisans of contemporary folk music and traditional folk music.
To view a list of artists who have performed in The Living Tradition concert series, click Concert History, or scroll to the bottom of this page. These events are partially funded by a grant from the Anaheim Arts Council.
Location & Time
All concerts are held on the 3rd Saturday of most months at the Anaheim Downtown Community Center, 250 E. Center St., in Anaheim (in the heart of Orange County). Free parking.
Concerts start at 7:30 PM, unless otherwise noted.
Price
Unless otherwise noted: $18 per person ($15 with Living Tradition membership discount). Children under 18 FREE with paid adult.
Contact
For reservations, concert information and booking
inquiries, please call Ron at (714) 997-8590 or e-mail
concerts@thelivingtradition.org.
Schedule
Oct. 20, 2018
Tracy Grammer is widely renowned for her springwater-clear alto, perfectly intoned violin, and guitar playing that is by turns percussive and delicate. Her stories are often described as "incantations" and add a rare mixture of vulnerability, intimacy, and hard-won insight to her performances.
Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan have honed their distinctive sound over a decade of touring festivals, clubs, concert series, and house concerts, often as a duo and sometimes with their ever-changing band, The Folk Unlimited Orchestra. They are one of the cornerstones of the Bay Area’s thriving roots music scene.
Nov. 17, 2018
Men of Worth: Scotsman Donnie MacDonald of the Hebridean Islands off Scotland, and Irishman James Keigher of County Mayo, Ireland, came together to perform Irish and Scottish folk music, combining traditional and contemporary styles. Donnie performs on vocals, octave mandolin, tenor banjo, concertina, and bodhran. James performs on vocals, guitar, mando-cello, and bodhran.
Bernice Lewis: With almost four decades of performing festivals, concert halls, coffeehouses, colleges, and house concerts, along with a half dozen acclaimed CDs, Bernice Lewis has built a solid national fan base. She is also a published poet, a producer, and an educator extraordinaire. Lewis — who studied vocal improvisation with Bobby McFerrin, guitar technique with Alex DeGrassi and Guy van Duser, and songwriting with Rosanne Cash and Cris Williamson — has been a featured performer on NPR’s Mountain Stage program, as well as at the Kennedy Center.
Dec. 22, 2018
No concert tonight in Anaheim. Happy Holidys!
Jan. 19, 2019
Concert for the Benefit of Folkworks
Rob Rio is dubbed “boogie woogie virtuoso” by Keyboard magazine. He plays the boogie-woogie and jump blues of the 20s, 30s, 40s, and 50s with a virtuosity that has excited audiences around the world for more than 25 years. In 2008 he was inducted into the Boogie Woogie Hall of Fame by the Cincinnati Blues Society. Rob currently performs at festivals, events, and clubs throughout Southern California, nationally, and abroad. He will be taking us on a boogie woogie journey from ragtime to Jerry Lee Lewis and points in between. On stage, it is a good bet that Rob is one of the most entertaining and hard - working acts ever to be featured at The Living Tradition concert series.
Caution: Traditional Boogie Woogie music has been known to include mature themes and innuendo. As such, this show might be considered by some to be rated PG13, so, you may want to bring your teenager with you to explain and interpret some of the lyrics!
Gary Stockdale is a 2-time Emmy-nominated composer, songwriter & singer who has composed music for television shows such as Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, To Tell the Truth, and Showtime’s Penn & Teller: Bullshit! He also wrote music for the feature film The Aristocrats, (Penn Jillette & Paul Provenza). Gary’s voice can be heard on major films (Star Wars: Rogue One, Avatar, Star Trek: Beyond, Prince of Egypt), TV shows (The Simpsons, Family Guy) and songs by artists as diverse as Justin Timberlake, Aaron Neville, Neil Young, and Johnny Mathis, as well as backing up Mary J. Blige on the 2018 Oscars. Gary co-wrote the adult musical Bukowsical, which won Outstanding Musical at the 2007 New York International Fringe Festival and also scored the original Off-Broadway production of Playdead, directed & co-written by Teller. Gary’s latest show, Bumpersticker – The Musical, recently played the Hollywood Fringe Festival to rave reviews. Gary was also the original keyboard player in the Brian Setzer Orchestra and sang a featured solo in the cult-classic musical TV series Cop/Rock.
Feb. 16, 2019
Performing together in a reunion concert:
John
Batdorf
is a successful film and TV composer, session vocalist, and
inspirational musician in the substance recovery
community. His breakthrough moment came as a part of
the folk-rock duo, Batdorf & Rodney. John continues to
be a most prolific singer, songwriter, and entertainer
and is much sought-after by concert venues throughout
the US.
James Lee
Stanley
has been recording and performing since he was fourteen.
He has toured consistently since he returned from the
USAF (as a Chinese linguist) and has performed up to
three hundred dates a year since then, with such diverse
acts as Bonnie Raitt, Robin Williams, Nicolette Larson.
James’ remarkable ability as a vocalist and composer
allow him to create songs, each recorded with a finely
crafted with guitar orchestrations that enhance the
lyric.
Mar. 16, 2019
Steve Gillette and Cindy
Mangsen
have been performing together for 25 years, bringing
together their love of traditional music and their
wealth of original songs. Accompanying themselves
with guitars and concertinas, their live performances
are known for rich harmony, compelling songs and a good
dose of humor. Their six duet albums have appeared
on many folk Top Ten lists, from the WFMT Midnight
Special (Chicago) to The Boston Globe.
April 20, 1019
May 18, 2018
The Fire is a high energy pure-drop Scottish music band, with world class fiddling in combination with bagpipes, guitar, bodhran, whistle, and bouzouki. The group includes International Scottish Fiddle Champion Rebecca Lomnicky, multi-instrumentalist David Brewer of the popular Celtic band Molly’s Revenge, and Adam Hendey on guitar and bouzouki. They’ll have you dancing in your seat, if not on the floor!
Additional 2019 concerts details will be added as information becomes available.
The schedule is subject to change.
Attention Artists:
If you are an artist who wishes to be considered for an
appearance at The Living Tradition concert series,
please first review the Concert History below.
Does your music fit in with this diverse group of artists?
The following artists have performed in The Living Tradition Concert Series (since 1999) or are booked for upcoming shows:
Chris Berry
Blue Mama
The Brilliant Gypsies
The Browne Sisters & George Cavanaugh
Dave Carter & Tracy Grammer
Colerick-Corbett Band
Chuck E. Costa
Dan Frechette & Laurel Thomsen
Freebo & Photoglo
Steve Gillette & Cindy Mangsen
Ken & Phee Graydon
Terri Hendrix with Lloyd Maines
James Hurley
Richard Lappin
Richard Lappin & Rob Balmuth
Tom Lee
Tom Long
Kate MacLeod and Kat Eggleston
Steven McClintock
The Muses
Nathan & Jesse
Tracy Newman and the Reinforcements
Lisa O'Kane
One Foot In
Dan Oved
Robin Pearl
Jenny Richards
Rusty Richards
Andy Robinson
Claudia Russell & Bruce Kaplan
Tanya Savory
Secondhand Smoke
Rick Shea (solo)
Sion & Anderson
Chris Stuart & Backcountry
Tintangel
Jon Wilcox
Return to schedule of upcoming concerts.
Also, we're on Meetup.com.
Search for "folk" or "dance" in Anaheim, CA.
