Lauren Adams

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (June 15, 2007)

KARMA WITH YOUR COFFEE? SONGWRITERS TO RAISE FUNDS, CONSCIOUSNESS & SPIRITS IN NEW MONTHLY SERIES OF BENFIT CONCERTS

(CULVER CITY) The Synergy Café & Lounge continues its commitment to high-quality, no-cover charge acoustic music by launching Grassroots Acoustica, a new monthly singer/songwriter series with a social consciousness, on Saturday, July 7, 2007 at 7:30 p.m. in the listening room of its new Sepulveda Boulevard location. In lieu of a cover charge, collection plates at each table invite donations from the audienc, 100% of which will benefit a different non-profit organization every month. The July event benefits Children of the Night, a Hollywood-based organization that has been dedicated to rescuing runaway teens from prostitution and pornography since 1979. Each month's lineup of Grassroots Acoustica will feature a Who's Who of legendary performers with musical legacies intrinsically tied to Los Angeles' rich history, tradition & landscxape -- as well as a Who's Next of songwriters currently making waves on the local scene. And there's always the promise of surprise unannounced guests. With upcoming evenings earmarked to benefit area homeless shelters, animal sanctuaries, cancer support centers & meal delivery for the terminally ill, series producer & master of ceremonies Mark Islam comments, "There are a lot of artists, some of whom don't perform live very often, who are giving freely of their talents because everyone involved believes these dollars will go out & change the world in quietly profound ways." Onboard for the flagship installment of Grassroots Acoustica are Andrew Gold, a prolific songwriter, session musician, producer & artist in his own right whose "Lonely Boy" was a Top 5 hit in 1976 & whose 1978 single “Thank You for Being a Friend” gained widespread recognition as the theme song for TVs Golden Girls; Larry John McNally, known in music circles as a songwriter’s songwriter, whose moody, lyrical songs have been covered by such legends as Don Henley, Bonnie Raitt, Rod Stewart, Jennifer Warnes, the Staple Singers and Aaron Neville; and if McNally's a songwriter's songwriter, then Rick Cunha is a musician's musician, a stalwart from the Troubadour's golden era who can boast of having played guitar on Emmylou Harris' seminal debut album Pieces Of The Sky & also wrote Jennifer Warnes' recurrent hit "When The Feeling Comes Around." Also on deck from the local singer/songwriter soup are Jane Bolduc, whom L.A. Weekly described as “having a voice like a prairie tornado” -- and self-penned songs to match; and Lauren Adams, who released her debut Americana disc Here Tonight in 1999, as well a follow-up, Thirsty, in 2001, and is herself the host of the long-running Americana Music Circle series at Kulak’s Woodshed. Anchoring every show are artists-in-residence Tom and Byron, an acoustic duo on the rise on the LA music scene and acclaimed hosts of The Talking Stick’s popular Wednesday hoot nights. Synergy’s announcement of a new monthly music series is welcome news in an otherwise topsy turvy time for Los Angeles’ acoustic scene where, between the wholesale loss of Highland Grounds as a music venue in Hollywood in January, the following month’s closing of Sisters of Bubik in Pasadena, and the always-imminent closure of Santa Monica’s Talking Stick, punters and open mikers alike can’t catch a break. Synergy, meanwhile, has more than lived up to its mission statement of fusing creative minds with great food and extraordinary events by opening a second Culver City site on Sepulveda Boulevard to complement its original location on Overland. “Our mission is to bring creative minds together,” says Synergy co-owner Gil Ran. “We wanted to create a place that feels like an extension of our own living rooms.” Co-owner Alex Schteyman agrees. “Come for the music,” he says. “Stay for the menu." And come early. To get a good seat. Grassroots Acoustica series will be held the first Saturday of every month from 8pm. – 10pm in the listening room at Synergy Cafe and Lounge, 4437 Sepulveda Boulevard, Culver City.