Photo Credit: Baron Spafford
Santa Barbara was on center stage during The Granada Theatre and Santa Barbara Records production of Locals and Legends: Celebrating the Music of David Crosby. The extravaganza saw today’s best Central Coast musicians paying homage to one-time Santa Barbara resident, icon David Crosby.
Tribute concerts are on trend, and the chance to honor a local legend excited the Santa Barbara arts community. With the Santa Barbara Symphony under the direction of Nir Kabarett, joining an extraordinary line-up of local Santa Barbara musicians, plus James Raymond, Crosby’s son and longtime musical collaborator, and Steve Postell, Crosby’s music director and guitarist, the show drew a large, multi-generational audience.
“By doing shows like this, we get to expose symphony-goers to a wider range of music and others to symphonic music,” said Tariqh Akoni, the music director for the show. “The hope is that it inspires someone to pick up an instrument or go to the symphony. When we collaborate like this, it’s a win-win.”
A Love Letter to Local Talent
The impetus for Locals and Legends: Celebrating the Music of David Crosby was Santa Barbara Records’ recent release, Caliameriana, Volume III, which pays tribute to Crosby. Akoni, who is also the Director of A&R and Production at Santa Barbara Records, believed a live show would be a huge draw for the community.
Photo Credit: Baron Spafford
“There was a lot of positive audience reaction,” said Akoni. “The one I loved the most is the number of people who told me they felt elevated from the show. The last number, Music is Love, had the audience on their feet and singing along.”
The evening featured Santa Barbara Records’ artists Glen Phillips, Chris and John Beland, Shawn Thies, Jonathan Firey, and Kathleen Sieck, an all-star band, and vocal performances by Miriam Dance and Lois Mahalia.
Crosby, who performed solo, with The Byrds, and as part of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, had an extensive repertoire of songs, making it no easy task to decide which songs to feature.
“The first hurdle was finding the right tune for each artist,” explained Akoni. “There are a lot of songs Crosby is known for, but didn’t write. I wanted to showcase his voice, so the songs had to be written by him. I also reached out to his son James Raymond and Postell to ask what David would’ve wanted to hear.”
Some standouts from the night included Eight Miles High, The Universe Knows You’re Mine, Delta, Dirty David, Oh, Nightingale, and Velvety Jesus.
“When I moved back to Santa Barbara, my goal was to uplift the artistic community in any way I could,” said Akoni. “A production like this is such a huge labor of love for me. I’d rather do one show like this per year than 365 smaller shows.”
Photo Credit: Baron Spafford