Jonathan Wilson
By Sarah Weiss
No one is immune to catching holiday some holiday cheer — just ask Jonathan Wilson and Mike Campbell. Together the two musicians will host the second annual Merry Minstrel Musical Circus, A Holiday Gathering and Goodwill Jamathon at the Troubadour on December 20 and 21. Special guests will be announced over the next few weeks, but fans will be sure to witness two nights of musical camaraderie. All of the proceeds from the concert will go benefit Manual Arts High School and Tazzy Animal Rescue Fund.
Jonathan Wilson, who released his second album, “Fanfare,” in October on Downtown records, is partnering again with Mike Campbell (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers) to bring this charitable concert to fruition. Last year’s concert included artists such as Jackson Browne, Bob Weir, Jeff Lynne, and Benmont Tench, among others.
“The room was packed wall-to-wall,” declared Rolling Stone about last year’s event. “Campbell…and Wilson traded jagged, searing guitar lines. Weir stretched out for several minutes of improv with the band and also led the Dead’s ‘West L.A. Fadeaway’ and ‘Truckin’,’ with four guitars onstage in epic twang.”
Donations to Manual Arts High school will be used to provide new brass and woodwind instruments to support their burgeoning band program.
The concert will also benefit Tazzy Animal Fund, an animal rescue that focuses on senior and medically challenged dogs.
Tickets for the event are available here.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the country in Washington D.C., the 9:30 Club is raffling off a music lover’s dream — two tickets to every 9:30 Club show in 2014.
Going strong after 12 years in a row, the renowned concert venue will give a raffle ticket to anyone who donates new or clean previously owned clothes, a canned food item, or contributes $5 to help local charities that feed the hungry and the homeless.
Donation collections will begin at the 9:30 Club on December 1 and will last until December 31. A maximum of 10 raffle tickets will be distributed to each person per night.
This year’s charities include the DC Central Kitchen, Sasha Bruce House, Capital Area Food Bank, House of Ruth, So Others Might Eat and Bread for the City.
The winner will be selected at the New Year’s Eve show featuring Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with Trouble Funk.
Last year’s winner, Clare Erslev, attended more than 70 shows last year and saw bands such as The Presidents, Reel Big Fish, The Dismemberment Plan, Coheed and Cambria, and GWAR.
“I’ve participated for the last four years by donating clothes mostly,” Erslev said. “I would hold onto clothes all year, then parse them out into bags, and would bring the bags to the club most everyday after work during the month of December until I ran out.”
Additional drawings for smaller prizes will also be held throughout the month. The more you donate, the more you can win!