Returning to the Freight stage after a rousing set at last year's Pomegranates & Figs show, Eliyahu & The Qadim Ensemble perform a dizzying range of beautiful, passionate music. With repertoire from the Arabic, Jewish, Turkish Sufi, Hebrew-Yemenite, Armenian, Ladino, and Moroccan traditions, the group celebrates the common musical and spiritual heritage of the region's cultures while honoring the great diversity found within them.

Texas literary luminary Larry McMurtry’s comment that “being a writer and a Texan is an amusing fate, one that gets funnier as one’s sense of humor darkens,” perfectly describes the members of our favorite Austin-based band. With twisted humor and highly literate, sharply pointed lyrics, the Austin Lounge Lizards poke fun at politics, love, religion, and mass culture.

In a show that is sure to inspire both kids and adults to laugh, dance, and sing in English and Spanish, beloved educator, author, and musician José-Luis Orozco performs an hour-long benefit concert for Bay Area Hispano Institute for Advancement (BAHIA).
 

Freight favorites Robin Flower and Libby McLaren regale us with their modern Celtic americana style in an evening of exhilarating instrumentals, tight vocal harmonies, creative energy, and loads of fun.
 

The Jazzschool's award-winning Advanced High School Jazz Workshops I & II, under directors Michael Zilber and Erik Jekabson, perform a variety of cutting-edge arrangements in their final performance of the 2011-12 season.

Submit your ears to the ”mindboggling” (Houston Chronicle) guitar playing of newgrass pioneer Dan Crary. A flatpicking stylist of great innovation and brilliance, Dan transcends the boundaries of style and genre.
 

Guitarist and songwriter extraordinaire Danny Click takes the stage with his all-acoustic Americana Orchestra, presenting unique, string-enhanced chamber music settings of his compelling songs of struggle and redemption.
 

David Gans is a veteran of the music business as a songwriter and performer, a folk festival favorite, and a radio producer (he hosts the nationally syndicated Grateful Dead Hour and Dead to the World on KPFA). Tonight, he performs his own engaging, "warmly cynical" songs within the americana and jam-band spectrums. David’s most recent full-length CD is The Ones That Look the Weirdest Taste the Best.
 

A steel guitar extravaganza like no other in recent Freight memory, In the Steel of the Night features three of the world's leading steel guitar players and their hot bands. The Bobby Black Quartet, Big Lou's Dance Party featuring David Phillips, and Joe Goldmark and the Seducers raise the roof as they dole out twang galore... and you are invited!
 

Look out hipsters: round two of the British Invasion is here! Bringing classics from the original invasion and fantastic originals is a multi-faceted lineup of groups of all ages.
 

Marvelous mandolin innovator David Grisman and guitar virtuoso Frank Vignola fill our listening room with beautiful melodies, virtuoso musicianship, and plentiful good vibes as they serve up unique versions of some of their favorite jazz classics from the "great American songbook", spotlighting selections from the recent duo CD, Frank 'n' Dawg.
 

We are sold out of advance tickets for this show. There may be some limited standing room only tickets available once the show starts at 8:00 pm for $26.50.

In an inspiring show for a great cause, an impressive lineup of musical talent join forces to keep vital Bay Area cultural asset Linda Tillery mobile!
 

Join Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter, and record producer Rodney Crowell and New York Times best-selling author Mary Karr for a CD release concert in support of their first collaboration, the album KIN (Vanguard), a collection of ballads and country rockers with rugged underpinnings and a thread of grace and redemption. Joining Rodney and Mary for tonight's show is special guest, guitarist Steuart Smith.

Pianist and songwriter Rachel parlays a background in poetry, social anthropology (her major at Harvard University), and a lifetime of instrumental study into songs that push the envelope of pop in search of deeper meaning. San Francisco Chronicle music editor David Weigand described her music this way: “The voice is airy, plaintive, the sound, at first, seemingly detached, but it isn’t long—about three notes will do it—before . . .

“His performance, laced with his original songs, manages to make suffering a knee-slapper. He delivers Zen zingers with Borsht Belt timing." —New York Times
 
“Deeply wise, wonderfully insightful, delightfully humorous.”
—Utne Reader
 
“This show is fantastic and hilarious.”
—Ram Dass
 

The Folk Collection, a harmonious quartet based in

Award-winning fingerstyle guitarists  Duck Baker and Joe Miller present a far-flung evening of superlative music.
 

Check out the future when the West Coast Songwriters presents its monthly Songwriter Competition, where members take the stage and perform their material. Performers sign up from 7:00 to 7:20, and at 7:30 the show’s on! Guest judges award a “Best Song” and “Best Performance.” The most active songwriters’ association in the United States, WCS is dedicated to providing the environment, opportunities, and tools to nurture and promote songwriters.

All performers are welcome to participate in this event that has produced some of our brightest performers, including: Shawn Colvin, Dana Carvey, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Patrick Landeza.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS! One unique aspect of our Open Mic is that, unlike those held in noisy bars where people show up in spite of the fact that there's live music, you will be playing to a supportive group of friends and performers who are actually listening!!!

It’s a party, and you’re invited for this gala night of rockin’ music, comedy, and a silent auction in celebration of Earth Island Institute's 30th anniversary. Lending their talents to this benefit show are the Rock Collection, comedian Will Durst, psychedelic rockers Whiskerman, and other special guests.
 

Top songwriter Steve Seskin joins forces with two fresh new songwriting talents, Liz Longley and Julia Sinclair, for an "in-the-round" evening of hearth-tugging music.
 

A perennial Freight favorite, the exuberant Barbara Higbie hosts some of the Bay Area’s finest musicians in a fundraising concert for the Freight & Salvage.  Tonight’s lineup includes the Shelley Doty Band, Stevie Coyle, Austin Willacy, Girl Named T, and special guests Steve Meckfessel and Alison Burns, which all adds up to a fabulous evening highlighting the caliber and diversity of the Freight, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting public awareness and understanding of tr

All performers are welcome to participate in this event that has produced some of our brightest performers, including: Shawn Colvin, Dana Carvey, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Patrick Landeza.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS! One unique aspect of our Open Mic is that, unlike those held in noisy bars where people show up in spite of the fact that there's live music, you will be playing to a supportive group of friends and performers who are actually listening!!!

Soulful, virtuoso saxophonist George Brooks and groove-master bassist Kai Eckhardt are two of the leading musicians of their generation.

Grammy-winning jazz woodwind player Paul McCandless and captivating guitarist Antonio Calogero join forces for an evening of innovative world music.
 

Bay Area trio Golden Bough bring a fresh feel and expert hand to haunting ballads, beautiful airs, and lively songs from the Celtic regions. With a repertoire rooted in the traditional music of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, the Isle of Man, French Brittany, and Spanish Galicia, these modern-day minstrels expand upon these styles with intriguing arrangements and original compositions.

Three iconic figures from Hawaiian traditional music—Marlene Sai, Gary Aiko, and Nina Kealiiwahamana—bring beautiful tunes and heaps of aloha to the Freight stage, joined by special guests Kenneth Makuakane and Jeff Au Hoy, and hosted by Patrick Landeza.
 

Two of the world's finest mandolinists, Mike Marshall and Caterina Lichtenberg are masters of a variety of styles from around the world and across the ages. For tonight’s exciting performance, Mike and Caterina introduce Bay Area audiences to the virtuosic German mandolin/guitar duo of Silke Lisko and Rupert Gerhman.

Hailing from the rain-drenched forests of Olympia, Washington, the Blackberry Bushes Stringband plays a delicate, bold brand of northwest acoustic americana that, like its thorny namesake, is deeply rooted and continuously growing. The group’s sound takes a solid bluegrass foundation, draws from American folk music, and adds influences from all over the map, from Appalachian old-time to indie rock and alt-country.

A five-man rock band without instruments, the House Jacks offer a "no-holds barred" a cappella style that obliterates all preconceptions about the limits of the human voice. Deke Sharon, Austin Willacy, and Troy Horne, plus new members John Pointer and Nick Gerard, run the gamut from tender love ballads to mile-a-minute funk, complete with mind-blowing vocal percussion and riffs torn straight out of a whammy-bar guitar.

Among the Freight's most popular acts, Marley's Ghost achieves the seemingly impossible with its audacious blend of English folk roots, gospel, country, reggae, R&B, even Scottish bagpipe tunes—and it all works like a dream! Come celebrate with the band as they release their 10th CD, Jubilee, a wildly eclectic roots-music tour de force mixing originals and deft interpretations of tunes from the songbooks of Kris Kristofferson, Levon Helm, John Prine, and more.

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

“Some day people are going to wake up to the fact that Woody Guthrie and the 10,000 songs that leap and tumble off the strings of his music box are a national possession, like Yellowstone or Yosemite, and part of the best stuff this country has to show the world.”

—Clifton Fadiman,
The New Yorker 1943

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

We are sold out of advance tickets for this show. There may be some limited standing room only tickets available once the show starts at 8:00 pm for $24.50.

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Check out the future when the West Coast Songwriters presents its monthly Songwriter Competition, where members take the stage and perform their material. Performers sign up from 7:00 to 7:20, and at 7:30 the show’s on! Guest judges award a “Best Song” and “Best Performance.” The most active songwriters’ association in the United States, WCS is dedicated to providing the environment, opportunities, and tools to nurture and promote songwriters.

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

Woody Guthrie’s American Song runs July 11-22, 2012

All performers are welcome to participate in this event that has produced some of our brightest performers, including: Shawn Colvin, Dana Carvey, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Patrick Landeza.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS! One unique aspect of our Open Mic is that, unlike those held in noisy bars where people show up in spite of the fact that there's live music, you will be playing to a supportive group of friends and performers who are actually listening!!!

Two dynamic women composers rooted in jazz join for an evening of raucous and gorgeous improvisation with stellar Bay Area musicians and some special out-of-town visitors. The caravan, led by Angela Wellman and Jessica Jones, also features Afro-Peruvian cajon player Juan Medrano Cotito, vocalist Lori Wellman, Kev Choice on piano, Ayinde Webb on drums, and Amina Scott on bass—plus other special guests TBA!

Rolling Stone magazine dubbed Doug Paisley 2010 CD, Constant Companion, one of the year’s best singer-songwriter albums, and with good reason. This Toronto-born artist crafts sparse, soulful songs with folk and country echoes, gorgeous melodies thrown into stark relief by his straightforward, plain-spoken lyrics that manage to feel both open-ended and profound.

The electric jazz virtuosos in the trio Charged Particles cross stylistic boundaries, blending jazz styles with elements from Latin music, classical music, and funk to make music that is excitingly creative. Keyboard wizard Murray Low boggles the mind with his dazzling Latin-jazz technique and improvisational skills. Inventive electric bassist Jason Muscat and fiery drummer Jon Krosnick join him to create some of the most electrifying jazz in the country today.

Hailed for its spirited performances and fascinating fusion of Latin and folk rhythms with adventurous jazz explorations, the VNote Ensemble (formerly The Snake Trio) gives a voice to the hidden treasure of Venezuelan music. The band, formed in 1997, is committed to raising that voice and exploring the connection between North American jazz, traditional Venezuelan songs, and original musical ideas.

With influences ranging from Andres Segovia to Mississippi John Hurt, Ed Gerhard is one of the true masters of steel string finger style guitar. A Philadelphia native now residing in New Hampshire, Ed performs with passionate intensity and a sly sense of humor on 6-string, 12-string, and slide guitars—including the esoteric and beautifully toned Weissenborn (Hawaiian lap steel guitar).

All performers are welcome to participate in this event that has produced some of our brightest performers, including: Shawn Colvin, Dana Carvey, Alvin Youngblood Hart, and Patrick Landeza.

HERE'S HOW IT WORKS! One unique aspect of our Open Mic is that, unlike those held in noisy bars where people show up in spite of the fact that there's live music, you will be playing to a supportive group of friends and performers who are actually listening!!!

Brittany Haas of Crooked Still and Lauren Rioux from Darol Anger’s Republic of Strings join forces to make music steeped in intricate harmonies and filled with deep emotion.  Together, these two consummate young fiddlers bring their knowledge of Appalachian music and their experience at the forefront of the contemporary string band scene to weave a tapestry of heartfelt vocals and progressive grooves.

Hailed as the “Mark Twain of Americana,” Paul Thorn brings his gritty, gospel-infused Southern rock straight from his hometown of Tupelo, Mississippi, where he grew up as the son of a Pentecostal preacher and went on to box in more than 50 professional bouts, including one with Roberto Duran—but that’s another story. Paul’s music mixes the hard-driving boogie of the Allman Brothers with the soulful wit of John Hiatt.