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Hearts for Haiti - A Haiti Relief Concert

Hearts for Haiti is a post Valentines day benefit for earthquake stricken Haiti. We don't have U2, Madonna, or Sir Paul, no Cloony or other big stars answering phone lines, just our own local musicians from San Diego pitching in to raise funds for earthquake-stricken Haiti.

Partnered with the San Diego American Red Cross, the benefit concert was organized on short notice. With just a few days to prepare, some of San Diego's top musicians and recording artists will gather together at The Belly Up Tavern, delivering moving, high-calibred performances with one simple goal in mind - raise as much money as we can."

Wait a day to celebrate your Valentines Day and share your heart with the people of Haiti. All funds raised will be sent to Haiti for urgently needed relief work.



Chris Clarke

We had the pleasure of having Chris perform at our inaugural concert last year when Chris opened for the Carolina Chocolate Drops. When Chris agreed to play we wanted to tell you something different about Chris so we looked to one of our other performers Allen Singer wrote in the April 2009 San Diego troubadour Issue

"Chris Clarke told me directly that he loves the music, has no interest in fame or doing the Nashville shuffle, and doesn't have stars in his eyes. Chris is a musician who plays to play and who gigs to feel the joy of the audience appreciating his talents. "In Chris Clarke, there's a well of talent, a sense of curiosity, and a feeling of being drawn toward the old but open to all that's new. His spirit is contagious and musicians who play with him continue to experience his joy of living and love of music. Chris is clearly a modern good old boy with dreams of musical satisfaction, who teaches the tradition by reincarnating himself through his students as well as staying musically vital by incorporating new musical ideas and sounds. The rewards of knowing Chris and playing with him are endless and timeless."

Well Allen we could not have said it any better.



Allen Singer

A San Diego local, Singer, in addition to keeping the spirit of music alive through his recordings, also serves on the board of the San Diego Folk Heritage, a concert-producing organization. If that weren't enough, he also leads the San Diego Folk Song Society, created in 1957 by local treasure Sam Hinton, a great American folksinger, folklorist, and diatonic harmonica player. According to his bio, Singer plays guitar and sings folk, blues, country, traditional music, old time tunes, topical, and bluegrass music, and has a knack for picking the best songs to accentuate his strong, dusty voice. In the same way Tom Waits spits out his vocals and lobs them at you like emotion-filled bombs, Singer, too, has harnessed the ability to let his deep, at times raspy, weathered voice land firmly in the hearts of his listeners through their ears.



Robin Henkel

Robin Henkel promises nothing, if not a surprise here and there. This is just the way the San Diego native is. He wants to shake things up, so expect the unexpected.

As a guitar player, Robin can play blues, jazz, funk, country swing, Hawaiian and Latin music. He borrows from each of those styles when he performs and sometimes even surprises himself with the musical direction his songs take.

"I like playing music", he says. It just feels good. Henkel's strength is when he picks up that sawed-off pipe fitting and puts it on his baby finger and then lays it on the strings of a resonator or Dobro then all of a sudden he commands everyones attention and he steals the show. You probably haven't seen anything like this for years and you may not see it again anytime soon.



Gregory Page

Gregory Page's sound compositions seemingly plucked from another era, anchored top-hatted vaudevillian sound, a 20’s, 30's, 40’s French cafe, bluesy-swanky thing going on. Thats how we describe it but when you mine as well listen Gregory Page himeself who describes his unique sound this way:

"The music that I create is a time machine—it transports me back to a place where life was in black and white. Back to a time when women were ladies and guys were gentlemen. The tightrope my music teeters upon is the struggle between tradition and progress, history and fantasy. I am the songbird & the worm."


Jim Kweskin

Jim Kweskin was the leader of the irreverent, eclectic and influential mid-1960's folk revivalists the Jim Kweskin Jug Band and has become a truly significant contributor to American music. Jim Kweskin’s shows radiate of charm, humor, sophistication, as well as talent. Jim sings a collection of familiar songs by Benny Goodman, Johnny Mercer, the Sons of the Pioneers, Fats Waller and Somethin' Smith & the Redheads. There's an endearing sense of good humor to Kweskin's versions that makes his performances a charming delight.

Sara Petite

Sara Petite is like some sort of a younger version of Dolly Parton she puts memories in her songs that touch elements of traditional country, bluegrass and rock. You could call Sara’s music Americana but we call it contagious.


Hope to see you there!

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