Street Painting Festival & Plein Air event in Old Town Temecula June 25-27

Full Box French Style Easel

Painters and muralists will fill the streets of Old Town at the 10th Annual Old Town Temecula Street Painting Festival and 3rd Annual Ralph Love Plein Air Festival Friday June 25 through Sunday, June 27. This year organizers are bringing in lights for night painting on Friday and Saturday

“We’ve started a second division - Black and White at Night -for artists who prefer cooler temperatures, but also to offer a new challenge,” explained Melody Brunsting, event producer.

Over 100 muralists and visual artists create giant pastel murals on Main Street in Old Town Temecula during the event. Families, children, and beginners join in the creative endeavor in the family section where more than 500 smaller squares are blocked out for spectators to paint with pastels on the asphalt canvas.

The Black and White at Night division is for monochromatic and black and white murals. Lights will be provided the artists for night time painting until 9 p.m. All artists can paint into the night, but the lighting purpose was to encourage monochromatic paintings.

“Many artists want to enter both categories; the traditional full color palette and the black and white at night. It’s a new challenge that they are eager to try,” Brunsting added.

Traditional street painting is done with a full color palette of pastels. Pre-registered artists receive a 48-piece set of artist’s pastel chalk. The traditionalists and families will start Saturday and Sunday at 7 a.m. Their creations often take 12 to 20 hours to complete.

The 2010 featured artist is local muralist Jesus Gutierrez. He won the 2009 event for his entry “Aztec Princess.” A special treat this year is provided by the art students at Mount San Jacinto College/San Jacinto campus. They will be creating a giant 3D painting on Main Street similar to the popular “chalk guy” Julian Beaver.

The Ralph Love Plein Air Festival started three years ago and offers a $500 purchase award from the City of Temecula. An event within the event, Plein Air artists paint on location on canvas.

Plein Air Artists will scatter throughout Old Town in search of the perfect scene depicting the historic town. The event was named after Ralph Love. For many years, Ralph Love taught as well as painted. His students were made up of avid artists throughout Southern California, and their classroom was the wide-open spaces. On rainy days, the class would meet in the old Art Shack in Temecula, California, which Love opened in the mid-fifties. It was from this Art Shack that his work received national recognition. The courtyard at Old Town Front Street Bar & Grill is now known as the Love Courtyard and the scene of numerous concerts during Hot Summer Nights.

Both art events are free to the public and one of the many event offerings provided by the City of Temecula during Summerfest. Artists can still register for the events and children and families can participate at the event without registration. They are provided free pastel chalk and a place to try their creative hand at street painting. Classic Rock tunes from the Two of Us will entertain Friday evening. Flamenco guitar by Javid and Maoko provide a Latin and world music backdrop on Saturday. Sunday live Big Band tunes by the Valley Winds will close out the Festivals.

A Plein Air Art Auction is held Sunday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Applications for both Plein Air artists and Street Painters are available at www.temeculacalifornia.com or by calling (951) 678-1456.

Temecula Bluegrass Festival March 19-21 Offers Free Concerts, Jams, Workshops & More

Alan Munde Gazette will highlight the Old Town Temecula Bluegrass Festival March 20 and 21. Bandleader Munde’s long, rich history in the bluegrass community has solidified him as the one the world’s foremost five-string banjo players. He brings his Gazette band of Elliott Rogers-Guitar/Vocal, Bill Honker-Bass/Vocal, Steve Smith-Mandolin/Vocal, and Nate Lee-Fiddle/Vocal. Gazette will play twice Saturday and Sunday of the event.

This is the tenth year for the Festival and organizers have added two free concerts Friday evening plus a jam session at Embassy Suites in Temecula from 5-7 p.m. Highway 138 will perform from 7-9 at Sweet Lumpy’s and Old Haywire will perform at Palumbo’s from 6 to 8 p.m. Both restaurants are in Old Town and admission is free. The legendary Moonalice Band will perform in concert Friday, March 19 at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater at 8 p.m. Moonalice tickets are available at www.temeculatheater.org.

Munde and his band will headline Saturday and Sunday, playing once each day on the Town Square outdoor stage at Mercedes and Main Street. The band is also part of a three-act concert Saturday evening, 7 p.m., indoors at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater. On the same billing is Bluegrass Etc., and Silverado Bluegrass Festival. Tickets are $15 and $10 for balcony seats.

Munde made his mark in Bluegrass beginning in 1972 as a member of the Flying Burrito Brothers performing with Byron Berline. After a European tour, the Burritos split up and Munde joined Country Gazette, then consisting of Roger Bush on bass, Kenny Wertz on guitar, and fiddler Byron Berline. Later in 1977, Munde and mandolinist Sam Bush recorded "Together again for the first time" with Roland White, Curtis Burch and John Cowan (both members of legendary "Newgrass Revival" with Sam Bush).

Also performing outdoors are: Bluegrass Etc., Lonesome Otis, Even So, Sligo Rags, Hunt Family Bluegrass, Gone Tomorrow, the Silverado Bluegrass Band, Older than Dirt, Old Haywire, and Highway 76 Bluegrass Band. Bands perform on two stages from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday. All outdoor concerts, workshops and jam sessions are free. Daytime concerts in the theater Saturday are also free.

Sunday features Bluegrass Brethren in a free gospel concert at the Old Town Temecula Community Theater, plus a 3 p.m. matinee featuring Alan Munde Gazette and Sligo Rags. This concert is $5 while concerts outdoors remain free.

Sligo Rags with entertaining and energetic fiddler Michael Kelly, Dublin percussionist Andy Reilly, and solid vocals are crowd favorites in Temecula with show-stopping renditions like “The Devil Went Down to Dublin.” An Irish band by nature, Sligo Rags injects their Irish overtones to create a unique brand of bluegrass, original tunes and unusual interpretations of popular rock, folk and bluegrass favorites.

Kelly, versatile fiddler and comedian, is well known in all musical circles where fiddle is played. His career spans decades, and includes forays into the country, newgrass, swing, and bebop realms.

Band leader David Burns plays guitar and banjo for a number of local Irish and bluegrass bands. Currently Burns is the banjo player in Heart Of 'Grass (headliners at the 2004 Topanga Bluegrass Festival), guitar player in acoustic jazz band Timbreline (recent nominees for Best Instrumental Band at the 2006 Southern California Music Awards), and also worked with The Mulligans, Ken O'Malley, Rob Williams of The Fenians, The Band of Rogues (Featuring Terry Casey, Rob Williams, and Chris Pierce of The Fenians) and many other local heavyweights in the Irish realm.

Reilly is one of the finest percussionists in all of California and spent eight years on the road with the original Dublin-based touring company of Riverdance. Now a Los Angeles resident, he plays all manner of percussion including the bodhrain giving the group a sound that sets them apart from all other bluegrass bands.

"Pickers" (Bluegrassers’ term for musicians) jam anywhere along the rustic streets of Old Town Temecula. Scheduled workshops on the mandolin, fiddle, guitar and banjo are held each day in the “Merc” at 42051 Main Street and are free.

“It’s the greatest part about a bluegrass festival. Fans are also musicians, some of them quite good and notable in the music world,” stated Melody Brunsting, organizer of the event. “We’ve had Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek show up on our stage just to jam with Bluegrass Etc. before.”

To visit the cultural district of Old Town Temecula take the 15 Freeway to Rancho California Road or Highway 79 south and follow the signs leading to Old Town Front Street. Public parking is free. RV parking is available in town for $30 for the weekend. Call (951) 678-0831 for RV reservations. For information call (951) 693-3952 or visit http://www.temeculacalifornia.com/

ADDITIONAL LINKS:
www.temeculacalifornia.com
www.temeculabluegrass.org
http://huntfamilybluegrass.com
http://www.alanmundegazette.com/
http://www.sligorags.com
http://www.tricopolisrecords.com/bands/bandframeintro.html
http://www.silveradobluegrassband.com

Clever Marketing, Fun Promotion

First, I apologize to all of my friends who were totally unaware that La Masters was dropping boxes of jewelry off at different locations in Temecula for the past 21 days. It was their "21 Gifts of Giving" thank you for 21 years of being in business.

I don't know what is in each box - but I do know that La Masters had under 100 fans on their Facebook page before the promotion and finished with super activity and ended with 275.

That isn't the best part. What happened was crazy. Box hunters stalked the store, watched Facebook for clues, called stores and businesses where they thought they would find the box, and shot video of themselves on their hunt. Videos were posted on facebook, photos of the hunt. A camaraderie as well as competitive kinship formed with the box hunters who became customers and excitement filled their Anniversary Party as many of the box hunters were also competing for a 42" flat screen television.

It wasn't my idea. It was Leah's, co-owner at La Masters. She handled the program herself, on Facebook and Twitter. Yes, there are companies that can do it for you but Leah, not afraid to try new marketing, figured she could do it herself and did.

It's why I've always enjoyed working for La Masters. They are always innovative, a step ahead of most marketing firms. They do spend money on research and development of their customer base. They do hire consultants to help them design campaigns. But they learn, absorb and adapt what they are taught to take things up a notch better.

About three years ago I had told one of my event clients that things were changing in the marketing world so rapidly that our normal way of selling tickets was changing. We needed to develop a web community of attendees. I call them fans and guests. Radio would produce ever diminishing returns as more and more cars were sold with MP3 and Satellite hookups. Cable television had gotten way too expensive for the small market share and print media was slowly failing into obsolescence.

Many would fear this dire prediction. Instead, it becomes a call to action. Think 2012. While some say the end of the Mayan Calendar is Doomsday. Others, call it the end of a cycle - and in fact say that the Mayans saw time and the world as cyclical not linear. Therefore, 2012 is a time of rebirth.

And so it is with marketing. New marketing, Marketing 2.0, 3.0 whatever you want to call it takes time. Make no mistake. Currently event marketing takes about twice as much effort as the good ol' days of sending out a press release to 100 pubs and following up with pitch phone calls to get printed. That's because newspapers and magazines have folded, merged, consolidated and laid off staff by the thousands.

And blogs, web marketing, social media has taken the lead. This is where writers losing jobs on newspapers should be moving. All marketing companies, all companies with marketing departments, are going to be looking for the company voice to be embedded on the net. Yet, the best part is it doesn't cost thousands for television production and millions to air. For local advertisers - that equates to hundreds for production and thousands to air on cable or local radio.

Don't forget College Marketing 101. You still need to know your customer, what he or she wants, and where to find that customer.

Some sobering facts for old media addicts: There are over 300 million active Facebook users, 50% of the active users log on to Facebook any given day. The fastest growing demographic for Facebook is 35 years old and older. Myspace 110 million users, and as of September 2009 Twitter now has 5,301,915 users
with 31% of the users ages 25-34.

Marketing 2.0 - Web marketing, requires a step up in your game plan. You can no longer get by by shouting your product or service, or event at your customers. You have to engage them, entertain them, bring them into the fold and they will be your ambassadors. It is the tricky part. Too many folks are jumping on the web band wagon with their advertisements. Some of my Twitter pages get a "tweet" ad every 10 minutes - abusing the entire thought process behind Twitter and I'm sure alienating anyone who follows them. On the other hand, I get some great tidbits from Tech marketing gurus like Brian Solis, Larry Weber and Deirdre Breakenridge.

The key with everything - is always moderation. Abuse what's free and eventually it's going to cost you in one way or another. With the transparency in Social Media that translates to loss of credibility.

With blogs, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Flckr, Youtube, Blogger,Linkdin, and Wordpress... (just a few of the venues) it's all free. Free Marketing, Free Public Relations. Not really. It takes time, ingenuity and an eagerness to learn. It also takes respect for the reader - who you want as a guest or customer. Respect is not shouting over and over again - "Look at my great new book!"
"Sell Us Your Gold!" "Sign Up Now for My Incredibly Free Seminar that will sell you on my incredibly Expensive Service." Respect is answering the question we all have on our mind when we open a blog or read a tweet. "What's in it for me?"

If you are in business and have followers, fans, and/or friends; give your fans a reason to keep following you. Take a Page from the La Masters Fan Page - Engage them, entertain them, teach them. And they will pass your tweets and comments on to their friends while you enjoy an ever-expanding customer base.