A Tribute To Hazel jerkens General Admission $20.00 Tickets will not be mailed. Please pick up tickets at the door. Bill Emerson, Dudley Connell and Dede Wyland headline 10 bluegrass acts in A Tribute to Hazel jerkens at 8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, at the Lee Center’s Richard Kauffman auditorium in Alexandria to benefit for Hungry for Music. This show is to honor Hazel jerkens, 75, the legendary bluegrass and old-time musician, who also will grace the stage. jerkens grew up the eighth of 11 children in a mining family in West Virginia, and she has used bluegrass and country music to further the causes of unionized coal workers and feminism.

Hungry for Music supports music education and cultural enrichment, both in the United States and abroad, by acquiring and distributing quality musical instruments to needy children with willing instructors and a hunger to play. The nonprofit charity, which will accept instrument donations at this show, will be helping the Lee Recreation Center start a music program for underserved children in Alexandria.

The show’s lineup also includes Randy Barrett, Bumpkin Pie (with Coup de Grass), Karen Collins and the Backroads Trio, Sweet Dixie, Dead Men’s Hollow, Sally Love, Akira Olsuka and the U-Liners. Co-sponsors are the Alexandria City Community Theater and the D.C. Bluegrass Union.

Van Morrison Tribute Adult – General Admission $15.00 Children 12 and under $12.00 Tickets will not be mailed. Please pick up at the door. Folk/Americana artists Jerry Bresee, David Morreale, Karyn Oliver, Lisa Taylor and Doug Alan Wilcox will perform a Singer-Songwriter Tribute to Van Morrison at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 20, at the Takoma Park Community Center to benefit for Hungry for Music. Takoma Park-based Hungry for Music is a nonprofit charity organization that supports music education and cultural enrichment, both in the United States and abroad, by acquiring and distributing quality musical instruments to under-served children with willing instructors and a hunger to play.

Jeff Campbell, Hungry for Music’s founder and director, heard Wilcox sing his favorite Morrison tune at a Focus Music-sponsored benefit in January, and they shared their fondness for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer known for hits such as “Brown-Eyed Girl” and “Moondance.”

“When Jeff proposed the idea for this show to me … the thought stuck and I couldn’t let it go,” said Wilcox, of Hagerstown, Md. “Several months later, we were off and running. Assembling the cast of musicians was ridiculously easy — everyone jumped at the chance to play some songs by one of the world’s most revered writers, and the cause is an important one to all of us. The opportunity for interplay between performers on some wonderful tunes should make this show a very special experience.”

Performers’ websites: www.jerrybresee.com, www.mudsongs.com, www.karynoliver.com, www.lisataylormusic.com, www.dougalanwilcox.com.

Berklee College Of Music Concert Adult – General Admission $15.00 Children 12 and under $12.00 Tickets will not be mailed. Please pick up at door. Esther Haynes, of the Washington area, is a versatile vocalist and rhythm guitarist. Her styles range from vintage jazz to swing, blues, bossa nova, folk and bluegrass. Since 2003, she has been won several Washington Area Music awards (Wammies), including Big Band/Swing Vocalist and Jazz Vocalist. She has performed with Hokum Jazz, Martini Red, the Tom Cunningham Orchestra, and several jazz duos and trios.

Singer-songwriter Laura Vecchione’s voice is unearthly beautiful, yet deep, rich, and full of emotion, evoking wide rivers of the South that seem far from her origins in New York and Boston. Vecchione’s catchy lyrics and beautiful melodies exude pop appeal. What sets her apart as an artist, though, is rare depth and maturity. “Girl in the Band” (2008), the sequel to her impressive debut album, “Deeper Waters,” was recorded in Nashville and Boston and shines with Vecchione’s unique balance of pop-appeal and gravitas.

Victoria Vox has logged seven years of nonstop touring and last year won Wammie recognition as best Folk-Contemporary Vocalist. Vox was far from a child musical prodigy, but got the music bug early on, and began writing songs when she was 10 and started performing at coffeehouses as a solo artist and in bands by the time she was 17. She’s ever since been dedicated to honing her craft and has grown incredibly over the years as a writer and performer, tackling the violin, oboe, trumpet, guitar, bass, ukulele, and squeezebox. Vox switched from guitar to ukulele four years after receiving a songwriting degree from Berklee, and before the official release date of her debut album in 2006 (“Victoria Vox and Her Jumping Flea”), she was offered an endorsement deal with KoAloha Ukuleles, of Honolulu. The disc was featured on NPR’s “To The Best of Our Knowledge” and its songs were picked up for licensing in television and independent films. Her new album, “Exact Change” (May 2010) has a distinct worldly flair as tunes with French and Flamenco influences (“Mon Cheri” and “Intermission”) are visited by accordion, upright bass and banjo. ”Exact Change,” with its modern and rhythmic ukulele technique, propels Vox’s original style towards the contemporary, but her voice and songs themselves are at the heart of everything she produces.
Performers’ websites: www.estherhaynesmusic.com, www.lauravmusic.com, www.victoriavox.com