Schooled in Song II

Last year’s Schooled in Song benefit concert, organized by Long Beach Arts Council President Justin Hectus and held at the Carpenter Center, brought together some of the city’s most-loved musicians on stage in a living room setting to benefit arts and music programs for children in Long Beach schools. This year, the benefit (and the rugs) move outside to a “carbon-eating stage” as Schooled in Song partners up with Fingerprints and University by the Sea for a free, all day (and all ages!) event involving such bands and musicians (and District favorites) as Jay Buchanan, Brett Bixby, ForceField ON, the Year Zero, Blank Blue and Crystal Antlers. The lineup has also expanded to feature localish acts Dengue Fever, Greg Laswell, Grand Ole Party and Dusty Rhodes and the River Band. There are 25 bands booked overall, including Brook Lee Catastrophe—whose alt.-country songs will leave a twang on your tongue and a spit of whiskey on your shoe—and there’s going to be a beer garden, too, with 18 of your favorite local bartenders, plus custom-made screen-printed shirts. If ever there was a corner in all of Long Beach begging for humans to be allowed to drink their beer outside while listening to divine voices like the one belonging to Year Zeroine Lili De La Mora, surely, it’s this one—I’m already sweet on the sunset.

SCHOOLED IN SONG UNIVERSITY BY THE SEA | CORNER OF FIRST ST AND LINDEN AVE | LONG BEACH 90802 | SUN 10AM-10PM | FREE | MYSPACE.COM/SCHOOLEDINSONG | AFTER PARTY AT SMOOTH’S SPORTS GRILLE

Tags: blank blue, crystal antlers, Long Beach, Music, schooled in sound