Sharing the Stage at the Festival of Books

Dear Patrons of the Arts,

The folks at the Los Angeles Times have inexplicably invited Murphy's Flaw to appear on the Festival of Books Etc. Stage for a fourth year.

We'll be on from 3 to 4 p.m. and at least 45 minutes of that will be spent tuning the banjo. But it's a solid entertainment value nonetheless, considering that it's free.

We jumped at this chance because 1) we don't get to hang with people who read books that often, being a Marvel Comics kind of band, and 2) it allows us to use one of the great chestnuts of showbiz hucksterism: "shared the stage with."

As in: "Murphy's Flaw recently appeared at the Los Angeles Times Festival of books where they shared the stage with the L.A. Opera."

And we will, you snobbish non-believers. L.A. Opera will be on at noon; we'll be on at 3 p.m. Same stage, though -- take that!

And it gets better: 

Murphy's Flaw is proud to be sharing the festival with Folk and Country Music Legends Peter Yarrow (Target Children's Stage, noon) and Trisha Yearwood (Cooking stage, 2 p.m.) We actually reached out to both, trying to get them to join the Flaw on the Etc. stage. No response. Curious....maybe the emails are slow. 

But the real outrage is this: Over at the Health and Wellness Stage is the Sun Protection Zone's Sun Safety Styles Fashion Show. They could have used some background music; all fashion shows need background music.

The Flaw, after all, was willing to share the stage.

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Next gigs:

• Sunday, April 25, 3-4 p.m.: Los Angeles Times Festival of Books Etc. Stage

• Sunday, May 2, 8 p.m., Coffee Gallery Backstage, Altadena ($15, reservations at (626) 794-2424)

• Monday, May 10, 7:30 p.m.: Viva Fresh Mexican Restaurant, 900 West Riverside Drive, Burbank.

• Sunday, May 16: 50th annual Topanga Banjo Fiddle Contest, Paramount Ranch, Agoura Hills.

April Foolishness at VivaFresh, Cafe 322, LATimes Fest of Books

So we were sitting around, trying to come up with a list of excuses not to practice.

We'd gotten up to No. 396 (Large Hadron Collider in operation in Switzerland, throws banjos out of tune worldwide), and when we weren't looking, our April calendar filled up with gigs.

"Tell us more," we hear you yearning....

Oh, all right...

• Monday, April 5, Viva Fresh, Burbank: The inaugural Bluegrass Monday at Viva Fresh Mexican Restaurant in Burbank, rumored to have the best fajitas in town. Bluegrass at a Mexican Restaurant? Of course, haven't you ever heard of Kentucky-Mex cuisine? There will be other bands each Monday of the month, and they no doubt will raise the standards  musically. The Flaw, on the other hand, will lower them precipitously every first Monday. It's kind of like a bluegrass roller coaster; you may want to raise both arms and yell, "Whee!"

• Wednesday, April 7, Cafe 322, Sierra Madre: Another inauguration, and we have nothing to wear: Cafe 322  will be the location for the first monthly "Who Left the Barn Door Open?" bluegrass night. The project is guided by Paul Dorn, bass player extraordinaire for about 30 bands on two continents (including Switzerland's "Large Hadron Collider Mountain Boys"). Italian food this time, splendidly prepared and purveyed. Unfortunately, the cuisine will have to contend with the Flawed atmosphere. But our band's attitude is if you don't have at least a few patrons running for the restrooms, you're not doing your job. Good bands always involve their audiences in the performance. Cafe 322

• Sunday, April 25, L.A. Times Festival of books, Westwood: Inexplicably, the Flaw has been invited back to the Etc. Stage at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. This must be the fifth year, and you'd think they'd learn by now. Nonetheless, we're on from 3-4 p.m. You'll not want to miss it because one of these years it will be the Flaw's Farewell Performance. You can find Festival of Books information here. Tickets are free and with the Flaw you always get your money's worth.

It gets even worse in May with a return to the Coffee Gallery Backstage at 8 p.m. Sunday, May 2. You've been warned; more about that later.

As always, you'll want to jot all these dates on a piece of paper and staple it to someone you love.

See you Monday, Wednesday or April 25, or all three if you want to earn your Flawed Groupie Merit Badge.

The Flaw